


A Month of Potter

by mppmaraudergirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 13:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 35,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7716484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mppmaraudergirl/pseuds/mppmaraudergirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When sixth year James Potter realizes Lily Evans doubts the sincerity of his feelings for her, he constructs a plan to ask Lily out every day for an entire month in hopes that she will finally understand the truth about his very real and very strong feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything related belongs first, and foremost, to JK Rowling, and then to her partnerships with Bloomsbury, Scholastics, Warner Bros., etc.

  “Why _won’t_ she go out with me?”

  Sirius Black lounged back in his favorite chair of the Gryffindor common room, eyes unfocused as if he hadn’t heard his best mate’s flustered whisper. The sound of James’ voice, however, did awaken him slightly, and he peered around enough to notice James cast a grave look to the other end of the common room where Lily Evans sat, half looking through notes, half discussing an assignment with her dorm-mate and friend Marlene McKinnon.

  “It’s rotten luck,” he automatically responded after a moment.

  It wasn’t as if he wasn’t sympathetic to James’ woes; he had just heard the mumbling of his nearly-seventeen year old best friend practically _every_ time Lily Evans appeared since their sixth year had begun, and it was now the end of February.

  Sirius looked around to notice the other two Marauders nodding in agreement, seemingly as worn from the grumbling of James as he was; Remus was perusing his Charms textbook diligently, and Peter was sprawled along the floor sorting through some of his Chocolate Frog cards. James, however, was staring determinedly in front of him, into the fireplace, and sneaking glances over to a Lily who was paying him no attention.

  “I reckon I haven’t been bold enough,” James mused. Sirius couldn’t help but laugh, making James’ head snap in his direction. “What was that for?”

  Sirius paused, but for only a moment, as if considering his words and then deciding to just disregard tact: “You are the definition of bold, Prongs. You asked her out last year after messing with her best mate, Snivelly.” Then to soften James’ indignantly furrowed brow, he added, “That’s not to say he’s not a git, who deserves a proper hexing now-and-again.”

  Remus’ face darkened disapprovingly over his text book, but he appeared determined to remain quiet as long as they allowed it.

  “That got completely out of hand,” James defended, quickly. “I _never_ intended for her to come over and for him to… well, you know. Call her that name. Besides, she really ought to be thanking me for opening her eyes to what a Dark-Arts-loving prat he is.”

  “I’m not saying you’re wrong, Prongs,” Sirius ceded, more for his own benefit than James’.

  James waved his comment aside, apparently inspired from an unknown source. “I’ve got it! I’m not being persistent enough with my invitations. She must be skeptical of my sincere desire to go out with her.” His words had drawn the full attention of all three Marauders and they were staring directly at him as he spoke. “It’s not enough that I just ask her out occasionally… I really need to go for it, you know? Every day.”

  “Every day?”

  “Every day, Wormtail!”

  “Let me get this straight. Your plan, Prongs, is to ask out Lily Evans _every single bloody day_?” Sirius clarified.

  “Yes.”

  “And you can’t possibly see how that could go wrong?” Remus insisted, still utterly dumbfounded by his friend’s proclamation.

  “In the famous words of John Lemon ‘it can’t get no worse’ right?”

  “It’s John _Lennon_ , Prongs.”

  “Whatever, Moony. The point remains. Eventually she will say yes, won’t she?”

  To this they had no response. Remus exhaled, bringing the book back to his lap to continue his reading. Peter looked around at Sirius, who merely leaned back in his chair appearing haughtily bored again, and then went back to shifting his piles of Chocolate Frog cards around. James, however, ignored them. He got to his feet and began climbing the stairs back to their dormitory, convinced he had a good plan to get Lily to go out with him by the end of March.

 

 

_Sunday March 1 - Day 1_

 James awoke bright and early having gone to bed thinking of different ways he could ask Lily out. He had heard many romantic stories in his time, and vaguely wondered if any of them would actually work on Lily. In the end, however, he decided that he would not try anything extraordinary today. His proposal would be simple. Therefore the moment he saw her in the Great Hall, nibbling on a piece of toast, he accosted her.

  “Evans!” He cheerfully sat down next to her on the bench.

  “What do you want, Potter? It’s just too damn early for you,” she complained. It was evident to all, except James perhaps, that she was not in the mood for him. She usually wasn’t, and especially not now, when she had barely slept due to a two foot long Transfigurations essay.

  “I came to ask you out,” he replied simply.

  “No,” she responded, just as simply in return.

  “No?” This was not how it was supposed to happen.

  “No, Potter,” she repeated, turning back to her food, uninterested in James’ slightly gaping mouth. “I do not want to go out with you, just save your breath.”

  “Err, okay, Evans.” He got up, intending to make his way down to where he usually sat. “Enjoy your toast then.”

  As he joined the other Marauders, he bemusedly thought to himself: _this is going to be harder than I thought._

_Day 2_

  Sobered by his recent failure, James quickly decided that a direct proposal that early in the morning was not the way to go. He waited until their lunch time break between Potions and Charms to unfold the plan he had thought of the day before.

  While his fellow seventh years clambered up to the dormitory to drop off their bags, James headed straight for the Great Hall to survey his options. When he arrived he found mounds of potatoes and sliced brisket with baskets of browned rolls and bowls of peas lining the tables. _Perfect_ he thought, grabbing a plate and scooping peas onto it.

  He was grateful he had come down here immediately because it took him ten minutes to get the plate exactly right. He sat down, slightly anxious, at the bench Lily usually sat at and he waited. Not too long after, Lily led the line of Gryffindor’s into the Great Hall. James could see his friends looking curiously at him as they followed but he ignored them.

  “Hey Evans!” he called, when she was within ear-shot. “I’ve made you a plate.” His voice was cheerful enough as he rose to meet her, careful to not shift the plate around too much.

  Skeptically – as most people were when handed a plate by one of the Marauders – she looked down to see words spelled out in peas:

  EVANS GO OUT WITH ME?

  Her eyes darted back up to James’, the look on her face growing from skeptical to impatient. “May I?” she asked, gesturing to the plate. He handed it to her silently, his own features morphing confusedly. Leaning over, propped up by one knee on the bench, she was forking the peas onto a new plate very carefully. After a moment she handed it back to him, and then swung her legs around to join her friends, who had been watching the scene curiously.

  James looked down and saw the only remaining peas on the plate were the N from EVANS and the O from GO. Even more embarrassed than the previous day, he tossed the plate down on the table near Lily’s right elbow, and marched out of the Great Hall.

 

_Day 3_

After spending the previous evening alongside the Marauders James had to admit his confidence returned fairly quickly. He hadn’t expected Lily to say yes automatically; as far as he knew she still felt unfavorably toward him. Although he felt this was unfair, because he hadn’t even gotten the chance to take her to The Three Broomsticks or out to the Quidditch pitch, or really anywhere alone where he could show her more about himself. There had to be some things about him that she would like. Right?

  Nevertheless he was certain that his attempts be made daily to get to the point where she would want to give him a chance, and with that in mind he entered the Transfiguration’s classroom late in the afternoon on the third day.

  They were giving a presentation on N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration spells. Every student was assigned a different topic as a way for the entire class to review. Lily was speaking today on Human Transfigurations.

  “…And that, of course, is why the wand-movement is particularly important.” She finished confidently, to some scattered applause.

  “Very well, Miss Evans,” Professor McGonagall said, scribbling the last of her assessment onto the parchment in front of her. Lily turned to her as she asked Lily two more questions and then the floor was open to the students.

  James’ hand shot into the air first, and Lily, eying it warily, instead called on the nearby Hufflepuff who had also raised his hand. Lily answered his question very slowly and thoroughly, hoping McGonagall would call the next student presenter and save her from calling on Potter.

  It was to no avail, and she sighed before mumbling, “Yes, Potter?”

  “Excellent presentation, though I think you’ll find your history is a little off. Orion Templeton’s discovery was in 1208 not 1280.” He truly tried to keep the smugness out of his voice, but he was James Potter.

Lily’s face darkened. “Sorry, I must have switched up the numbers on my notes.” Her apology didn’t seem too genuine, and she cleared her throat before adding, “Now was there an _actual_ question you’d like to ask?”

  James sat up straighter, “Oh yes. Will you go out with me, Evans?”

  To this his classmates broke into laughter, with the exception of Lily, her friends, and Professor McGonagall.

  “No!” she replied furiously, but before she could berate him, she was interrupted.

  “That is quite enough, Mr. Potter,” came Professor McGonagall’s scolding voice and the laughter ended immediately. “Five points from Gryffindor for your lack of regard to the subject at hand. Do it again and you’ll be in detention.”

  James shrugged as Lily, her face still red and eyes still narrowed, returned to her seat near the front of the class.

 

_Day 4_

 James was truly inspired by his recent date proposal. Classes weren’t ideal for asking a girl out, but they at least presented him with a medium from which to ask. He hadn’t intended to ask her out in Transfigurations – his first proposal idea would have to be used another day – but he just couldn’t resist putting her on the spot. He simply adored watching her face turn red. She was always beautiful but something about embarrassing her made her even more so. Not to mention the added bonus of it being a direct result of his actions. _He_ affected _her_ ; and perhaps one day, in more promising ways than embarrassment or anger.

Though Sirius felt his proposal was simply brilliant, the other two did not seemed to be impressed. So when James plotted his idea for this day, he remained quiet about what exactly he planned to do – which was why while in Potions, Remus grew more and more exasperated by his lack of help as the class went on.

  “Seriously Prongs, can you please _pay attention_?!”

  James drew his eyes away from Lily for just a moment to look toward the cauldron. He had grabbed the wrong ingredient for the third time and was about to drop it in when Remus shoved his arm away from the cauldron.

  “Oh, sorry there Moony.”

  “You are not. If you were, you would stop staring at Lily and help me with this draught.” Remus was rarely this cross with him, but he had other things on his mind. He would have very few moments to complete his plan and he had to be sure to capitalize on every one of them.

  “Not long now,” he heard Lily say to her partner. “It needs to simmer for five more minutes and then we will have to lower the fire and in another ten it will be done.”

  James grinned at his luck of hearing her time-table and then turned his attention to his own cauldron. He began helping Remus but still threw glances at his watch every few minutes. Finally, when their potion was at the simmering stage, he noticed his time had come.

  Lily and her partner Mary Macdonald bottled up two vials of their draught for Professor Slughorn and, after quickly scribbling their names on them, carried them toward the front of the class to turn in.

  “Be right back,” he muttered to Remus, not waiting for a reply. He strode over to their unsupervised cauldron and poured the contents onto the table. Concentrating hard on his wand movements he began to clean the spill in a very peculiar way.

  “Prongs, what are you doing?” came Sirius’ cheerful call from two tables over. James ignored him, and looked toward Lily, for once grateful that Slughorn insisted on badgering her whenever she was around. He had just returned to Remus’ side when Lily came back to her table.

  “What on earth happened to our potion?” She was staring inside the cauldron and saw it entirely empty.

  “Lily, look!”

   She peered over the cauldron to see where Mary was pointing. Once again, words bearing a familiar proposal met her eyes, though this time the peas were replaced by her liquid potion.

 “Potter!” His mouth twitched upward as she turned, searching for him. Their eyes locked and she closed the distance between them. “Why would you waste _my_ potion on some pathetic little joke? What if I had dropped the vial and needed a new one? You would’ve gotten me a _zero_!”

  James looked slightly taken aback by her outburst. After all, he had waited until she had turned in her vial before dumping the rest of it. Not that he would admit it. “It’s _not_ a joke! So will you?”

  She exhaled loudly, “ _NO!_ ” and then spun on her heels and walked away from him.

  Remus merely shook his head, bending over the potion. When he looked back up at James, James simply shrugged in response and turned to the potion, his mind still on the red head.

 

_Day 5_

“Think you’re going a bit too far with the whole class idea, mate.”

 “Really, Padfoot? I thought you _liked_ my idea?”

 Sirius shrugged, “Yeah, sure. In Minnie’s class it was hilarious, but spilling her potion? A bit far.”

 James understood Sirius was speaking as a representative for the other Marauders at breakfast the next morning. “All right, got another idea up my sleeve.” And with that he walked away from the table.

  “This is absolutely barmy,” Peter said, once he knew James was out of earshot. “How much longer can he really plan to go?”

  “And to what length?” Remus added warily.

  Further down the table, Lily Evans was wondering the same thing. It didn’t take long for her to see. Just then she was greeted by a third year Ravenclaw she had never seen before.

  “Are you Lily Evans?” the girl inquired, throwing a quick look to the Entrance hall as she asked.

  Lily spun slightly in her seat. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Okay I’ve got a message for you. Well a request really. Will you go out with James Potter?” Lily’s jaw dropped, and laughter filled the air as her friends all turned to look at the third year. The girl held her hands behind her back shyly then continued, “You should go out with James!” There was no mistaking the encouraging tone of her voice.

  “No,” Lily said firmly, then feeling too harsh toward the girl, added, “err…thanks.”

  The girl gave a short nod before retreating back out of the Great Hall. Lily turned to look at her friends again.

  “What was that all about?” Mary inquired from the other side of the table.

  “I think Potter just asked a girl to ask me out for him. That toe-rag.”

  “That’s quite…strange,” Marlene offered, her brow slightly furrowed. Lily nodded, hoping that would be the end of it. However, as the day progressed, Lily was approached by five other students, all third year, with similar proposals. Some even a bit more off-the-cuff than she’d expect.

  “I’ve come to ask you out for James Potter,” one brazen third year Gryffindor boy said, approaching her in the common room. “He wants to take you out. Of course, I’m just throwing it out there, _I_ myself am single too, if he isn’t your type…”

  In the library: “Lily Evans, right? I’m here on behalf of James Potter,” the Hufflepuff girl cooed fondly. “That dreamy sixth year bloke in your house? Oh yes, of course you would know him. Well he,” she couldn’t help but break into a slight fit of giggles, “he wanted to know if you’d be his _girlfriend_.” She concluded with a sigh.

  Walking along the grounds toward Herbology: “Oy, you there! Looking for Lily Evans… Ah, yes. Hello. Been looking all over for you, must have forgot he said Herbology. Anyway… James Potter, you know him?...”

  Her response grew in agitation as the day waned: “No thanks... Nooo. No. NO. No!...”

  And lastly, a solid “NO!” while slamming the dormitory door in the shocked Gryffindor girl’s face.

  The girl came into view at the bottom of the steps where James waited eagerly for her signal. She shook her head sadly at him but he thanked her anyway.

 

_Day 6_

“You are mental,” Peter informed him during breakfast the next morning. This seemed to be the general sentiment of James’ friends, classmates, and fellow Gryffindors. His forcing of the third year students hardly went unnoticed and it left no one surprised that Lily had declined each and every request.

“Persistence is key here, Pete,” came James’ unwavering reply. He was growing less and less embarrassed as the days went on.

  “Do you even want her to say yes, Prongs, or is this just another stupid game of yours?” Remus asked, sincerely.

  “Of course I want to go out with her Moony. Genuinely, I really do!” The insistence in his voice was irrefutable. “But I can’t just ask her out conventionally. I already have and she already said no.”

  “That’s because she doesn’t want to go out with you, Prongs. Changing the way you ask doesn’t change _what_ you’re asking.”

  James didn’t seem disturbed by this particular bit of news. “I’m not giving up that easily, mates.” He cast a look over to Lily who, having just looked at her watch, arose from her seat. “She is worth chasing after. It is worth countless No’s for one Yes.”

  “But—“

 “Drop it,” Sirius commanded, having seen where James’ eyes had gone. They did. “Come on, let’s get to Charms so we aren’t late. Remember the detentions we got last time we were late?”

  “Yeah,” James agreed, standing up as well. “Although that wasn’t really fair. How _couldn’t_ we laugh at Flitwick’s scolding? He sounded like an irate chipmunk.”

  They laughed reminiscently, making their way out of the hall. In fact, they had hardly finished laughing when they entered the classroom, but were silenced quickly by the announcement of a quiz. Before the class filled entirely, the Marauders found their usual seats, the row behind Lily and her friends.

  James quickly tore into his bag, retrieving quill, ink, and a small piece of parchment. He quickly penned a note to Lily:

_Evans –_

_Good luck on the quiz today… Also Hogsmeade later this month? Please?_

_J Potter_

 He slowly levitated the note onto her desk and she reached down to grab it. James’ heart beat increased upon seeing her not immediately tear the parchment to pieces. He could see her scribble a response and nonchalantly send the note back to him.

  _Really Potter?_

  _After the stunt you pulled yesterday? Absolutely NOT!_

_L Evans_

_But thanks. Good luck to you too._

  James shrugged off Sirius’ inquisitive look before placing the parchment back into his bag. Something told Sirius that James would hold onto this particular note for at least a little while.

 

_Day 7_

No one could say James wasn’t putting effort into his proposals. In fact, even Lily Evans would admit she was slightly taken aback by the creativity in his requests – not that that made her any more likely to respond positively to them. But the point remained, she was borderline impressed. That was until Saturday when she entered Professor McGonagall’s office. Once a month she assisted McGonagall with grading younger student’s papers. Having not been particularly gifted with Transfigurations, like some ( _Potter_ , she thought bitterly), she arranged for extra time spent reading through essays and tests hoping it would deeply ingrain the concepts.

  Lily’s friends knew this arrangement had been made starting in fourth year when Lily began to worry about the up-coming (but still a year away) O.W.L.’s. It wasn’t a secret but she didn’t flaunt it.

  So when she sat down and pulled the pile of second years’ essays toward her, her eyes immediately drew to a tiny phrase written near the heading of top piece of parchment.

  “Evans: go out with Potter?”

  Her eyebrows creased. Odd. Not giving it too much thought, she carried on with her grading. She then flipped to the next one. And again on the second:

  “Evans: go out with Potter?”

 She hastily shifted the stack into her hands and began sorting through them. To her astonishment every essay had the phrase, or some variance, written on the top of it, save one. It read:

 “Look up and tell him yes!”

  She looked up. He was there. How the bloody hell was he there? Her mouth dropped open, but she quickly recovered. He was carelessly leaning on the stone wall near the threshold of the classroom.

  “Potter!” she greeted, her voice betraying her surprise.

  “So what will it be, Evans?”

  “How did you—“

 He remained leaning against the wall, and waved her comment away with his hand before repeating, “Is that a yes?”

  “No,” she clarified. “It’s a no. But how—“

  He didn’t wait around for the rest of her question and when she reached the door and gazed out into the corridor, it was empty. After a moment she retreated back into the classroom, shaking her head, willing herself to be less impressed.

 

_Day 8_

It was a beautifully clear Sunday – a blessing for all students who had completed enough homework to allow themselves reprieve from the castle’s stone walls. Many students from all ages and all houses scurried around the grounds, some merely talking with friends while others lied on the grass soaking up the sun with a good book. Lily and her friends were among the latter group, sitting near the lake as they usually did, but withholding their feet from dipping into the cold water. Not too far from them the Marauders, save James, sat underneath their usual beech tree. Lily paid them little attention, but noted James’ absence.

  “Where is Potter?” she asked her friends wearily.

  “On the pitch. I overheard Stebbins talking about going to practice this morning,” Marlene informed her. “Why do you ask? Interested in seeing him?” The girls laughed together at this ludicrous thought.

  “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right Lil?” Mary teased. Lily reached over and splashed some of the cool water onto her friend, who squealed indignantly in response.

  “I’m just preparing myself for the inevitable encounter.”

  They nodded their understanding at this. Then Mary let out a gasp, looking upward. She wasn’t the only one to turn her attention to the sky. Like all the others around her, Lily looked up to see a Gryffindor Quidditch player zooming above them. From the angle she sat she couldn’t quite see who it was, but the pit of her stomach told her she already knew.

  Suddenly a long line of cloth sprung out near the end of his broom, bold garnet letters shining in the sunlight that read,

LILY EVANS, WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?

  Her friends barely tore their eyes away from the sign to see Lily’s reaction. Underneath her hand, which shaded the sun out of her eyes, her mouth gaped open in awe. James was lapping around the grounds, many feet above, clearly unable to tell that she had seen it. He continued circling for a few more minutes, still not entirely sure the banner had drawn her attention. She didn’t look at him even when he landed feet from her. Mary nudged her.

  Before he could open his mouth, Lily turned her head to face him. “No thank you!”

  He closed it with a small exhale of breath and took off to the sky again, leaving the abandoned banner to be collected by his friends.

 

  _Day 9_

  _A little showy_ , James thought darkly, _that’s what they called it. That’s what it was._ But sometimes things had to be a little showy right? A little drama can be good. And for a girl like Lily Evans it almost seemed demanded in James’ mind. Still, perhaps the banner was a bit much. It certainly got her attention, but rendered him no ability to actually get a word in with her before she quickly shut the door on his request.

  _A little showy_. He looked across the common room to where Lily was sitting, warming her feet by the fire, with a small book in her lap. He could see the firelight reflecting off the emerald and was grateful his friends had already retreated up to the dormitory for the night.

 The hours were waning, but Lily still sat on edge, expectant. He had not failed to ask her out any day over the previous week and she did not for a moment believe that trend would end. But it was nearly ten and he had yet to say a word to her yet today. It was not entirely unwelcome, but it was strange. She looked up from the book and their eyes locked. She blinked, looking away for a moment then her eyes met his again. She watched as he took his wand out, drawing letters in the air.

  “Hogsmeade?” they read, in a bright red. They hung in the air as his eyes met hers again. She shook her head no, and turned back to the book.

  They sat there in silence for another twenty minutes, Lily barely concentrating much on the words in front of her. And then finally she looked back up to where he had been sitting but he was gone.

 

  _Day 10_

James was running out of ideas, and Sirius was running out of patience for his friend. James, outwardly, did not appear too unhinged from all of Lily’s refusals, but at times when it was quiet or they were alone or James thought no one was watching, Sirius could see his friend’s anguish. He wasn’t senseless enough to suggest that James quit his endeavor, for he knew that James really did want to be with Lily, and frankly he couldn’t suggest a better way for James to go about getting her. But it still bothered him, and so when James sat in their dormitory brainstorming ways to ask Lily out today, he offered to do it for him.

 “You’ll ask her out for me? Aren’t we a little old for that?” James asked, an eyebrow arched. Not that he wasn’t grateful to Sirius.

 Sirius shrugged in response, pushing his hair out of his face. “You said you had to go for the unconventional. Why not let me give it a shot?”

  “Got nothing to lose,” James ceded.

  “Exactly.”

  Before Sirius reached the door, James called, “Padfoot?”

   “Yeah, Prongs?”

  “Thanks, mate.”

  Sirius threw him a toothy grin in response, waved a hand lazily in the air, then pushed open the dormitory door.

  One quick look across the common room told Sirius that Lily was nowhere to be found; her red hair was easy to spot with a simple sweep of the area. Unperturbed, Sirius gingerly pulled a piece of parchment out of his cloak pocket. It was his week to carry the Map around with him, and this made his task at hand seem easier, though it wouldn’t make the next step of his mission any simpler. The Map told him Lily was holed up in the library.

  He arrived, stowing the Map safely in his pocket, and scanned the room for her once more. He saw her taking a textbook from Pince’s outstretched hands before turning on her heels and heading towards the door. This was lucky.

  “Black,” she greeted, once she had crossed the thresholds.

  “Hey Evans. Going back to the common room?”

  “Yes.”

  “May I escort you?”

  Looking at him out of the corner of her eye, she slowly agreed, “I suppose.” She began walking ahead of him, but his quick strides brought them side-by-side once more.

  “I came to talk to you about James.”

  “You don’t say?” He looked over to see her mouth twitching upward. That had to be a good sign, right? He never felt as transparent as he did when he conversed with her. She stopped abruptly and faced him.

  “I was wondering if you would like to accompany my fine friend to Hogsmeade in a couple of weeks?” His offer seemed pitiful. He had asked out a few girls in his day, but never for any friends, and especially not for James.

  She arched an eyebrow. “He asked you to ask me out for him?”

 “No,” he recovered quickly. “I offered, being the mate I am!”

 “Why?” It was clear in her voice that she was skeptical.

 “Because…because…” He paused, looking into the emerald eyes in front of him. He looked around, ensuring they were completely alone, wondering what his honesty would lead to. “Because he was up in our dormitory, wrecking his brain for some idea of what to do and what to say for you to actually give him a chance.”

  Lily’s face turned to stone. “Oh.”

  “So will you, please, Evans?”

  She could tell there was sincerity in his voice and his words, but still she shook her head. “Sorry, Black. Really. I’m just not interested in him like that. I’m not interested in him _at all_ , really.”

  Sirius looked at her for a long moment before muttering, “Don’t say sorry when you don’t mean it, Evans. You’re not _really_ sorry, are you?”

  But before she could respond, in a fashion similar to his friend, he marched away from her. He didn’t look back to see her reaction or wait for her response; his mind was full of dread about the conversation he was walking toward.

 

  _Day 11_

   Sirius woke up the following morning with Lily’s words still echoing around his skull, etching into his memory like a chisel on stone. He lied stationary for a few minutes, staring upward at his bed-hangings, unwilling to get out of his bed. But the shifting sounds of his friends roused him and he peered out to see James tearing through his trunk.

  “Morning, Prongs,” he called through a yawn.

  “Hey Padfoot,” James responded, continuing his thorough search through his trunk. At long last he pulled out what he had been looking for, making a victorious whooping noise, and hastened toward the door. “See you lot in a bit, I’ve got a meeting.”

   Sirius’ eyes widened slightly in shock at James’ retreating back, astounded by his friend’s apparent indifference to the conversation from the previous night. As the door snapped closed behind James, Sirius’ eyes met Remus’.

  “What do you reckon that was about?”

  Remus shrugged, “Not sure but I expect we will find out soon enough, won’t we?”

  Sirius nodded, finally dragging himself out of his bed and rummaging for his own clothing. When they caught up with James after breakfast, he was annoyingly cryptic about his plans, and remained so during their morning classes. It wasn’t until they returned to the Gryffindor Tower for their free period after lunch, that it became apparent what their friend had done.

  “What’s going on here?” many of the Gryffindor’s asked as they gathered around the portrait hole.

  “What’s the hold up?”

  “Who the bloody hell is blocking the portrait?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw James’ face split into a wide grin. Normally Sirius would be pleased to hear of his friends antics, but he found he didn’t enjoy being excluded from a prank, which was clearly what had happened.

  “Prongs, what did you do?” Remus accused, having caught the look on James’ face also.

  “And why didn’t you clue me in on it?” Sirius said, indignantly. “It’s been ages since we’ve pulled a prank and—“

  “It’s not a prank,” said James soothingly, ignoring Remus’ accusations. “Not really at least.”

  Before they could question him any further, they turned to see Lily and her friends ascending the corridor toward them. They were jovially conversing as they drew nearer the Marauders, but when the girls noticed the long queue, their jokes ceased.

  “All right, Evans?” James called.

  She raised an eyebrow at him as they approached. “Fine, Potter. What’s going on here? Remus?”

  “I don’t know, Lily,” Remus replied, shame seeping through his words.

  The sudden approach of the seventh year Gryffindor prefect Dorcas Meadowes saved Remus from further scrutiny. There was something purposeful in her walk, and as she approached, her eyes began shooting daggers in James’ direction, which did not go unnoticed.

  “Just been to see Dearborn,” she explained, without greeting. “He’s told me the password has been changed to ‘Go Out With Me Evans.’”

  As if they were a pack of hunting dogs happening upon the same scent of prey, the group within ear-shot turned their face toward James’ in unison. His smirk went from joyful to sheepish under their eyes, but he did not apologize.

  “Really, Prongs? You couldn’t have thought of anything more original?” Sirius inquired, the first to break the group’s stunned silence.

  “I, for one, can’t believe Caradoc would go along with this! Some back-bone our Head Boy has… What did you do to him?” Lily’s voice was humorless as she rounded on James. James’ smile remained unwavering, much to Lily’s chagrin.

  “When I asked Dearborn about it, he said it was just for today, that berk. Also, you’re an idiot, Potter,” Dorcas informed him before pushing her way through the crowd to share the new password.

  “She’s right, you know,” Mary said, her eyes still narrowed at James disapprovingly. The girls turned away from him as the queue began to move.

  “Hey Evans,” he called to her retreating back. She exhaled impatiently before turning to look at him. “Was that a no then?”

  “Of course it was a no,” she replied sharply.

  James nodded his understanding. “That’s what I expected.”

  “Then why did you even ask?” she retorted back quietly. But then she found that she was really not interested in why James Potter did anything, and she spun back around to follow her friends into the common room, leaving James alone with his three mates. They shook their head in his direction as they, too, clambered through the portrait hole.

 

  _Day 12_

 “Some mates you lot are,” James informed them, for what felt like the hundredth time since the previous day. He and the Marauders were trudging along toward Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch the following day.

  “I don’t recall any of us agreeing with your barmy ideas, Prongs,” Peter said fairly. “None of us are really keen on the idea of you asking Lily out every single day.”

  James rolled his eyes, though they were focused on the girls walking ahead of them. “That is beside the point! We’re supposed to have each other’s backs in times of need.”

  Sirius snorted at James’ melodramatics. “Time of need, Prongs?”

  “Yeah, Padfoot, certainly,” Remus responded automatically for James, trying very hard to not roll his eyes, too. “Prongs clearly is in _need_ of Lily. Though isn’t he always?”

  James scowled at them as he dropped into his seat near the back of the classroom. He muttered darkly to them as they joined him, “Gits, the whole lot of you.”

 Before any further harassment of James could take place, Professor Bones’ old knobby figure came blundering into the room. He held a stack of parchment loosely under his arm and slammed it forcefully onto his desk upon arriving in front of it.

  “Need someone to pass these out. How about you, Mister Potter?”

  It was unusual for any of their professors to single out one of the Marauders to pass out assignments, lest they blow something up while they’re doing it, so James was rightfully surprised to hear Bones volunteer him for the task. Though he was not displeased.

  “No problem, Professor,” he answered respectfully. With his friends in awe, James’ quick dive into his bag for a bit of parchment went undetected. After stowing it carefully into his pocket, he straightened up and walked to the front of the class.

  As James went from row to row passing out their graded essays, Professor Bones spoke to the class, in a mixture of praise and crossness as he reviewed their scores and explained common mistakes. James, a clear task in front of him, paid Bones little attention. His scores in Defense were usually top marks, as it was his second best subject just behind Transfiguration. Finally, a grin planted firmly on his face, he reached the tables Lily and her friends sat at.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” he greeted, sifting the papers through his fingers to find their names. “Not too bad, McKinnon,” he commented, much to her agitation, and her momentary flare created just enough distraction for him to slip the bit of parchment underneath Lily’s essay as he placed it on her desk. “There you are, Evans.”

  To her surprise, he made no further comment and immediately turned to the next table to continue his task. Lily eyed the parchment in front of her, delighted to see an O staring back at her, and though she had read it a dozen times already, she pulled the parchment close to her and began reviewing her own words. As her fingertips touched the edges of the parchment, she noticed a small note that distracted her from her review.

  “What’s that? Has Professor Bones written you additional comments?” Marlene wondered, leaning over Lily’s shoulder once she had noticed the parchment.

  “Not from him, no,” Lily answered quickly. “Who else?”

  “Ah, the pig.” And with that Marlene went back to her own parchment, wholly uninterested in what she already anticipated the parchment to say.

   _Evans,_

_Hello. I am writing to apologise for yesterday. I meant it all in good fun, and I truly didn’t intend to inconvenience or disrupt anyone’s day. And I really am sorry if I disrupted yours. Really. I am._

_J Potter_

Lily was slightly taken aback by the apparent sincerity of the letter…until her eyes flew down to the miniscule post script:

_PS Maybe I can make it up to you on Saturday at Hogsmeade, yeah?_

 At this, Lily tore her eyes away from the parchment and turned to search for James. He was still milling about, passing out most essays with commentary and perhaps a few jokes, as the current table of Hufflepuffs he stood before were shaking with silent mirth, and his mouth was curved upward in the typical James Potter way. She continued to watch as he made his way around the room, stopping once she realized her stare had drawn a few curious looks from her classmates.

  It was only when she saw James retreat back to his seat between Sirius and Peter, that she dared to catch his eye again, which was far easier this time because he was pointedly looking at her too. She stared at him, and vaguely wondered what he thought she was going to say. If her eyes or face said anything other than ‘No’ she made amends quickly by shaking her head vigorously toward him. To her slight surprise his face fell, an event she hadn’t often witnessed in the previous six years; but it went away as Sirius captured James’ attention, bumping a quick elbow into his ribs, drawing James’ eyes toward something on his essay.

 

_Day 13_

  “Evans!”

  She let out an audible groan from behind her hands, which were clamped tightly to her face as if in agony. The Transfiguration homework in front of her was already one second away from being torn to bits in her frustration, and then to add Potter’s presence on top of it all just seemed too much to bear. But before she could even respond, she heard him crash, all limbs and messy hair, into the seat across from her. When she had sat down to try to do homework on a Friday night, she should have anticipated being interrupted and distracted.

 “What do you want?” she annunciated, coldly and clearly, and a wiser man than James might have flinched at her icy tone.

  But James was known for his intellect in Transfiguration and Quidditch strategy, not for his wisdom.

  “Wormtail, that is, Pete and I were just having a rather good-natured discussion—“

  “You mean an argument,” Lily cut across, her hands still covering her face.

 James fought back a grin, “Yeah, all right, an argument, and we need you to settle it.”

 She dared peek through her hands at him, and instantly regretted seeing his face alight with what could only be trouble. She sighed, bringing her hands away from her face, dropping them onto the table and folding them together in a business-like way.

  “What do you mean _I_ need to settle it?”

 “’Cause you’re _Evans_ ,” he informed her simply. “Who better than you to give an absolute ruling?”

  She thought he might have a point, she certainly had a firmness to her when dealing with him. Maybe he knew about her intermediary position within her group of friends: she often played delegate and peace-keeper over the course of their adolescence. But how and why Potter would know that was beyond her, and she didn’t revel in the idea of questioning him about it.

  “I’m afraid to even ask what the ‘good-natured discussion’ was about,” she told him after a long moment.

  “Pete reckons my eyes are a dull brown color, but I’ve insisted that they’re hazel. Y’know, my mum always told me they were hazel like hers, and not some mucky brown color—“

  Lily sighed, utterly exasperated. “You’ve come over here to bother me and distract me from my homework, to talk about the color of your eyes?”

  James clearly didn’t see the problem, “Err…yeah? Come on, Evans, I just need you to tell me the color since I can’t very well have my mates staring into my eyes.”

  Lily eyed him warily as he inched his seat closer to her, a hopeful and wistful look falling upon his face. “You need me to tell you what color your eyes are?” she repeated, clearly skeptical.

  “Right, Evans, have a look.”

 His face was inches from her, and she could feel eyes staring at them from all around the common room as she watched him gently remove his glasses from his nose. She held firm to her place as he continued again drawing nearer. When he stopped, his eyes dilated, focusing in on hers, but despite the growing pupils his eyes were unmistakable. Lily herself may have assumed them to be a light brown color, but now discovered she would have been terribly wrong. Green specs surrounded his otherwise brown eyes, and she felt her stomach give an uncomfortable lurch when she realized how long she had been gazing into them.

 “They’re—they’re hazel, Potter, indeed. Does that satisfy you?”

 James had only pulled away about an inch after her proclamation, and he had just put his glasses back onto his face when he smirked at her question.

  “Yeah, thanks, Evans. I knew I could count on you. Of course, I would be more satisfied if…” His eyes averted from her emerald jewels to her cheek, and she saw him lean down before she could react. The kiss was miniscule: a quick brush of his lips on the edge of her cheekbone, but it had been enough.

  “What—what was that for?” she sputtered out, unceremoniously wiping her sleeve across her face.

  “Just a quick thank you. Although, I am the proper old fashioned type, so you really ought to let me take you to lunch next weekend for a _real_ thank-you—“

  “Potter,” her voice warned, its tone low and dangerous.

  The message had been received, and he quickly clambered off the chair and took a step back to where his friends were lounging.

 “Thanks, Evans.” He began walking back over to his laughing friends, but turned quickly to add, “If you would like any help with that homework, just let me know. I finished it two days ago.”

  She gave him a look that read, _not a chance_ , but he simply shrugged in response and walked away from her. Staring decidedly back at the paper, she cursed herself for actually wanting his help. Well, she didn’t actually _want_ it, but maybe perhaps needed it. Not that she would give him the satisfaction of knowing such a thing, or give herself any reason to have those striking hazel eyes close to her.

  Across the room, James sat down on the sofa next to Peter, as his friends questioned what he had just been up to. He gave a noncommittal answer, leaning toward Peter for the bag of sweets they were currently splitting, and had Lily not been so determinedly set on ignoring them, she might have notice that the color of James’ eyes was clearly never a matter of conversation between them.

 

_Day 14_

  The day was perfect.

  The sun was bright and the grounds were growing warm as March went on: a perfect day for Quidditch. The whole school gathered around the stands, enthusiastically awaiting such an important match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. With only one match after this one, Gryffindor needed to win this by a mere hundred points to secure at least second place in the cup race. James Potter was boisterously confident in the changing room before the match, jovially shouting encouragement to his fellow teammates as they loaded their gear on.

  “Right,” he cleared his voice, once he had finished talking up the Seeker Stebbins for the third time. “I’m going out to the pitch now, got something to take care of real quick. You lot meet me near the entrance of the field in three minutes.”

  Without waiting for their nods of assent, James bolted out of the locker-room and into the sky. He could see the stands filling up nicely, and a quick survey told him most students had already found their seats among their house-mates and were impatiently anticipating the start of the match. His eyes raced over to the Gryffindor stands where he found a flash of red hair in between two brunettes and he smiled. All going to plan so far as he reached his destination.

  “Let’s get on with it already,” came Mary’s voice, many, many feet away from James Potter. Her excitement was palpable and it got Lily on the edge of her seat too. She turned to Lily conversationally, “Idiot he may be, but the boy can sure play some Quidditch. I just know we’re going to win the cup _again_ this year!”

  “Definitely,” Marlene agreed, leaning over Lily to speak to Mary. “I overhead McGonagall talking to Sprout about the match. Very fond of the idea of keeping that Quidditch trophy in her office, she is.”

  “Naturally,” Mary said, looking up as a blur of red flashed across the field. “Now what’s he been up to?”

  “No idea…”

  But at that moment, Ravenclaw commentator Benjy Fenwick’s voice erupted over the stadium. “Hello! Wonderful day for Quidditch, eh?” His prompt resulted in raucous applause from the crowd. “Before Gryffindor and Hufflepuff take the field, I was ask to relay this message. James Potter would like to dedicate this match to Lily Evans, and request she join him in Hogsmeade next weekend to celebrate their victory – rather bold, don’t you think Hufflepuff? – so what’ll it be then Evans—“

  “NO!” answered the brunettes in unison, before Lily even opened her mouth.

  “That was a no… Bad luck, Potter,” Benjy continued, clearly aware of Lily’s response, “although I think I heard a couple yeses from my own house if you’re interested—“

  “FENWICK THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH—“

  “Right you are, Professor. Now, here comes the Hufflepuff team, led by Captain…”

  “How _thick_ is he?” Mary asked, as if she had not just previously spoken so fondly at the idea of James Potter winning them another Quidditch Cup.

  “Kind of funny,” Marlene said after a long moment, receiving a sharp glance from both Lily and Mary. “What? He’s nothing if not bold.”

  “He’s mental,” was all Lily said. Their conversation ended as the Gryffindors around them exploded into applause. The Gryffindor team soared onto the field, and the match began.

 

_Day 15_

 Lily’s eyes were closed, her smile joyfully relaxed as she lounged on her four-poster bed. The silence of a Sunday after a Quidditch match was delightful to her, as most students were exhausted from the celebration of the previous day, or were milling about finishing up the scraps of homework they had ignored due to their fervor for the sport. Lily, however, had completed her homework already, and was enjoying some well-earned alone time up in the sixth years girls dormitory before there was an annoying _tap, tap, tap_ on the window.

  Her eyes fluttered open, narrowing against the dimming light of the setting sun as she reached the window. Resting on the sill was a tawny barn owl, which hopped in purposefully once she lifted the latch open.

  It flew over to her bed, proudly perched with its leg out. It was an odd time for mail, nearly supper, but she hastened over to untie the two pieces of parchment. One was rather larger than the other and she unrolled the smaller one first to find messy scrawl. _His_ of course.

  _Hello Evans!_

 _I hope you enjoyed the Quidditch match yesterday, and of course the victory you inspired us to_ – she could almost _hear_ his cheeky little voice as she read — _As a thank you, I’ve included a signed photograph of yours truly._

_Please accept my gift, and my invitation to Hogsmeade this upcoming weekend. Sirius and I eagerly await your response._

  _J Potter_

_P.S. The owl is named Sirius. My stupid git of a mate named him, and by the time I had thought of a more suitable one, the bloody owl wouldn’t answer to anything else._

  Lily, an eyebrow arched, pretending to be unamused by the anecdote of Sirius and the owl that was forming in her mind, unraveled the second, larger parchment. It was a wizard’s photograph, with a grinning James Potter, no doubt in his Quidditch robes. Signed near the bottom was more scribbled handwriting,

   _To my future girlfriend._

_With ~~love~~ —really strong adoration,_

_James Potter_

  She stifled a laugh at the crossed out “love”, amused that James would rectify the proclamation in such a boyish way. Nevertheless, she scribbled down a resound no and tied it to owl Sirius’ leg, watching as he darted tenaciously out the still open window. She was marveling at how James had an owl so entirely committed to him when she heard her name coming from the stairwell outside the dormitory door.

  Hastily, she threw the photograph into the dresser next to her bed and stood up, right as Marlene appeared in the doorway.

  “Lily!” she repeated, waving her friend forward. “Come on to dinner with us. Mary’s starved and they’re having her favorite and she’s going to be very cross with you if you prevent her from having the three helpings she so desperately wants.”

  “All right, I’m coming!” She made to follow Marlene, laughter coming from both of them as they went. The photograph, still crammed away in her dresser, was driven from her mind.

 

  _Day 16_

  She hadn’t felt it coming on, which only made the morning filled with vomiting that much worse. Madam Pomfrey had told her she had eaten something she was mildly allergic to, and her body was reacting in turn, as she spent much of the next Monday morning hauled up in the girls’ lavatory hugging the toilet bowl. She had been given a potion to settle her stomach but she was certain it had long since joined the left-over food. She had insisted that Mary and Marlene leave her and go to their classes, as Lily couldn’t afford to fall behind, and she would have to rely on their notes to catch her up. Still, it was an unpleasant morning that lingered long into the afternoon hours, and though her friends stopped by after lunch she spent most of the morning alone.

  Around three, it seemed her insides had settled, as she had now gone a complete hour without getting sick, and she was grateful to wash off and then clamber back into her cozy bed. The pillows and blankets surrounded her wonderfully, and though she was told to visit the Hospital Wing once the vomiting stopped, she couldn’t resist succumbing to more sleep, unaware of the events unfolding between her friends and James Potter.

  “How is she doing?” he had demanded of them after lunch.

 “She’s doing fine, James,” Marlene assured him, a mixture of laughter and pity in her voice.

 Neither she nor Mary had ever seen James concerned about anything besides Quidditch before, and the change was not something they particularly reveled in. His hair seemed wilder and his eyes darker, and while this was not unflattering to his appearance, it was unusual and added to his frenzied voice.

  “Why isn’t she in the Hospital Wing like a normal sick person?”

  “Lily doesn’t need to be in the Hospital Wing, James. Madam Pomfrey’s already been to our dormitory to see her, and she said Lily just needs time to rest,” Mary told him, her voice holding uncommon patience.

  James gave them a sharp look before shuffling over to his seat in Charms, where he relayed the little information he had gotten to his friends. Mary and Marlene watched him go, the charm they were required to practice as forgotten as the open books in front of them.

  “He’s in a bit of a state, isn’t he?” Mary commented once she knew James was not in ear-shot any longer.

  “Yeah, he is. Wonder what that’s about. A normal person would react like that when he cares about a person…but this _is_ James Potter we are talking about.”

  Marlene’s words hung in the air between them, and they both continued to watch James until he twisted in his seat to grimace at them, as if he’d been burned by their stares. They hastily went back to reviewing their textbooks as they felt James’ attention leave them. Twenty minutes passed with both girls scratching vaguely on their parchments, before they were interrupted again.

  “Can I get her anything to make her feel better?” came James Potter’s low voice again, as he crouched near the side of their desk. Professor Flitwick was busy talking to a group of Ravenclaws but James didn’t want to draw attention to himself. Mary and Marlene looked bewildered at his words.

  “What?”

 His next words were impatient. “ _Lily_. Can I get her some food or a potion or anything to make her feel better? I’m a blighter when it comes to brewing potions, as you both might be aware, but I can nip some from Pomfrey with some help from the lads. Can you two find out after class?”

  Their mouths gaped at him, which drew a contemptuous look to his face, making him look angrily handsome. He drummed his fingers along the table, staring between the two of them expectantly. “Well?”

  “We’ll check on Lily as soon as class is over, James. Calm down, will you?”

  He nodded, his face softening, then straightened his long limbs out, standing. “Good. Please let me know. Thanks,” he added dutifully, once again returning to his friends.

  Mary and Marlene couldn’t bring themselves to stare after him this time, and immediately turned to each other.

  “Has he gone mad?”

 “Hasn’t he always been mad?”

  “What was that about anyway?”

  “I don’t understand him.”

 “Maybe he really does fancy her,” Marlene offered, and the look on Mary’s face told her it was a conclusion she herself was drawing, though she was opposed to actually muttering the words. The conclusion of the class was quickly approaching, and they had long given up on accomplishing their charm.

  “We have to tell Lily, right?”

  “We at least need to placate James or he might crash through our dormitory window to see her.” Marlene’s words bounced around Mary’s mind, and as much as she wanted to be disgusted by them, she couldn’t help but give Marlene a small smile, which Marlene quickly returned.

 When class ended, they saw James shoot a pointed look their way, and they nodded back at him in assurance as they left the class. When they arrived back up to the girl’s dormitory, they found Lily bundled up in her bed, sleeping peacefully.

  “She looks a lot better,” Marlene whispered, as they closed her bed hangings once more.

 “Yes, but I don’t think that’ll subdue him,” Mary murmured softly back. Marlene nodded her assent as they silently made their way back into the stairwell. “We might as well let him get her something, right? Maybe some soft bread and ginger tea, for when she wakes?”

  “How do you suppose he’ll get that?”

 “He’s James Potter, doesn’t he always do things like that?”

  “I suppose you’re right about that,” Marlene ceded, as they entered the common room and saw James sitting at the table nearest them. His face clearly said _well?_ as they approached him. “She’s sleeping James, though she looks loads better than she did this morning. We reckon she would enjoy some ginger tea and soft bread for when she wakes though.”

  “I’ll be back,” he promised, drawing himself off the chair, throwing a quick nod to his friends as he clambered out of the portrait hole.

  “Hey Sirius,” Mary called, as she and Marlene walked over to him, but Mary had gotten the attention of all three boys, causing them to drop their separate tasks and turn to her. “What’s going on with your friend?”

 “What do you mean?” Sirius asked, and the girls could see the same confusion in both Peter and Remus’ faces.

  “He’s being extra barmy today.”

 “Oh well, Evans is sick, isn’t she? That’ll get him in a state any time.” Peter and even Remus gave a small nod to them as he said this.

  “Why?” Mary asked before she could help herself, causing the three boys to laugh. “Why are you laughing?”

  “That was a rather stupid question, Macdonald. No offense, of course. James fancies her, what do you expect?”

  “He gets his nurturing side from his mum,” Peter told them, drawing laughter from both Sirius and Remus.

  “Don’t let him hear you say that, Worm,” Remus cautioned softly, throwing a furtive look toward the portrait hole that had just opened, admitting a group of third years to the common room.

  “That’s it then, is it?” Marlene clarified, ignoring the additional commentary. “He really does fancy her, then?”

  “It’s not a game?” Mary added.

 The laughter from the three boys faces immediately vanished at this, and their pointed stares were enough to tell the girls that they had been mistaken in their assumption about James.

  “The guy might be a few ingredients short of a potions set, in some ways, but he really does like her,” Sirius said, earnestly.

  “He doesn’t quite know how to go about showing it all the time,” Remus continued, “but he’s trying, at any rate.”

  “And for the record,” Peter cut in, drawing their eyes to him, “we didn’t give him the idea to ask her out daily, that idea was entirely his.”

  “We’re sorry if it’s driving Lily mad,” Remus added. “And he’s definitely going to still ask her out today, even though she’s sick.”

 “Because he’s got this idea that his persistence will pay off in the end… but he’s well intentioned, our friend. And we can assure you of that,” Sirius finished.

  Mary and Marlene stared between them, but were interrupted by the reappearance of James, whose arms were laden with an entire tea kettle, a cup, and three loaves of bread. It seemed staged, after the conversation they had just had – or perhaps it was just a prime example of the truth his friends had just been telling them.

  “Let me just grab a bit of parchment,” he told them, as he set the kettle, cup, and bundle of bread onto a table near them. The girls watched as he hastened to write a note to Lily, carefully folded it, then cautiously placed the assortment of items into their outstretched hands.

  “We’ll see you lot later,” Marlene told the boys, and it came out as a promise more than a statement. James nodded his thank you to her, then watched as they walked out of sight.

  It wasn’t until around seven that Lily woke up, while Marlene and Mary sat a few feet away on Mary’s bed practicing the charm they had failed to accomplish during class earlier.

  “What’s all this?” came Lily’s soft, half asleep voice out of nowhere. Mary and Marlene jumped off the bed toward her, and when they opened the curtains they saw Lily’s face surveying the small note that they had not, out of respect, read, despite being sorely tempted to.

  “James got all this for you,” Marlene cut in. Lily’s eyes left the parchment to look at her friend. “He was in a bit of a state about you today.”

  “A bit of a state is saying it lightly, Mar,” Mary informed her, a small smile playing on her lips. Lily looked, in bewilderment, between her friends.

 “Am I still dreaming, then?” Lily questioned. “You two are a bit too cheery at Potter’s antics. I mean, did he fly his broom up here or—?”

 “Err, no, actually. He gave us all this to bring up here.”

  “And you _did_?”

  “Well sure,” Marlene said timidly. But her tone was light and almost affectionate as she continued, “During Charms, the berk kept asking us to tell him a way to make you feel better. This was what we came up with.”

 “Oh,” came a soft sound from Lily’s mouth. She peered once more at the parchment. He told her he hoped she’d feel well soon, with help from the tea and bread. Added hastily at the end was another hope that if she should feel up to in on Saturday he wished to take her for a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks.

  “What’s it say?” Mary couldn’t help herself from asking, breaking the silence as Lily reread the note.

  Lily shrugged, “Well wishes and a date proposal.”

 “Ah,” Marlene responded, and Lily became aware that neither of her friends seemed keen on giving their opinion about the request. Marlene didn’t even do her usual exhaled scoff of ‘pig’.

  “I’ll have to find a way to thank him for the tea while still making it clear that I am uninterested in going to Hogsmeade with him. Why I even need to constantly remind him is, quite frankly, beyond me. He’s a hopeless case, isn’t he?”

  “You have no idea,” Marlene murmured in an undertone to Mary.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” Marlene quickly said, as Mary stifled a giggle. “I’ll go tell him you’re turning down his request.”

  “All right,” Lily said, confusion etching the syllables. “Do thank him for me, though. It was uncharacteristically nice of him to worry about me.”

  Marlene nodded, casting a glance at Mary as she walked out the door. Lily really had no idea, did she? Then again, neither did they until a few hours previously. Marlene found her conversation with James unpleasant, though it didn’t occur to her why until they had parted again for their respected dormitories. She realized that maybe a part of her had started rooting for James, driven a little by his genuine concern for Lily’s well-being. This was something she didn’t intend to tell Mary, though she wondered if Mary herself might have a similar feeling; and it certainly wasn’t something she would tell Lily.

 

  _Day 17_

  Lily, James happily noticed, was back in full fighting form the next day. So much in fact that she actually sought James out before the beginning of their Potions class.

  “Potter,” she greeted, in a voice far kinder than he usually heard when _Potter_ was on her lips.

  “Good morning, Evans. Glad to see you looking better,” he told her earnestly.

  “Thanks, I am feeling much better.” She paused, assuring their complete privacy before continuing. “I just wanted to thank you for the tea and bread. It was very thoughtful for you to get them; Marlene and Mary told me you were concerned.”

  “I was,” he affirmed, unabashed. “When I heard you were ill, I checked the Hospital Wing but you—err, yeah, I’m just glad you’re better.” He had gone too far, and he hoped his quick mumbling went unnoticed by Lily, but it had not. She was looking at him as if she had never seen anything quite like him before.

 Nevertheless, she tore her eyes away from him after a growing moment and simply nodded at him, before hastily returning to her friends. Marlene gave him a small smile, and his own face split into a grin as he looked down to his cauldron. He hadn’t expected Lily to agree to a date yesterday, given the circumstances, but he appreciated Marlene’s apparent change of opinion toward him, and, after all, some good inspiration had come out of it. He knew he never would’ve come up with his proposal if Lily hadn’t felt ill.

  Back at Lily’s own table, Mary’s eager voice met her as she sat, “Did he ask you out again?”

  “No,” Lily replied firmly, a look of confusion crossing her face. “Should he have?”

  “Well, he’s at it every day, isn’t he? I just wondered,” Mary recovered, turning to go through her potions set and pick out the ingredients. Her mind recalled Sirius’ words from the previous day about James being a few ingredients short, and a smile erupted over her face.

  “What are you smiling at?” Lily demanded to know. Marlene had caught sight of her too, but thought she might know why a smile had appeared.

  “Just a potions joke Sirius Black told me yesterday,” she answered cryptically, and Marlene’s own lips curved upward.

  “Oh Merlin, I can’t get sick anymore, if you lot are going to depend on the Marauders for company,” Lily told them, with a roll of her eyes. Their conversation ended as Professor Slughorn began his quick lecture, and as the noise of shuffling hands and cauldrons grew, they remained soundless. Thirty minutes into potion-making, when Lily’s needed to simmer for fifteen minutes, she approached Professor Slughorn quietly.

  “Sir, I was wondering if I could be excused to use the loo.”

 “Of course,” Slughorn responded, as if Lily was allowed to do almost anything she wanted. “I’ve meaning to ask you Miss Evans if you are free Sunday night. I am having a dinner party and would be delighted to have you there.”

  Lily had been invited to enough Slug Club parties to know that his gentle invitation was actually a summons. “I’ll be there, Professor.”

  “Wonderful!” Slughorn didn’t attempt to hide his happiness.

 Lily gave him a small smile in return, then hastened from the class, vaguely aware of Potter’s eyes following her back, and entirely unaware of his smile.

  She walked to the nearest lavatory, but found it oddly occupied by Moaning Myrtle.

  “Hi Myrtle,” she greeted, more out of necessity than want as Myrtle was floating near the door and Lily found no pleasure in the idea of having to walk through her.

  “It’s _you_!” Myrtle greeted. “ _Finally_. I’ve been waiting ages for you to show up.”

  Myrtle gleefully shot through the air, moving aside for Lily who took a few steps toward the stall door. “Me? Why have you been waiting for me?”

  “He told me about the charm and I’ve been aching to see how it works,” Myrtle explained easily. This did not alleviate Lily’s confusion, and Myrtle was uncharacteristically perceptive to this fact. “That handsome Potter bloke, he’s charmed the sink for when you use it. Go on! Look!”

  Lily’s eyebrows had stitched together now, confusion replaced with skepticism. She hardly thought Potter would harm her with a charm, but wasn’t entirely convinced what ever he had done would be safe; she had seen many of his pranks go awry over the years. Nonetheless, she suddenly found herself in front of the sink, and spun the faucet. Three squeaky turns later, nothing but water had flooded into the basin and Lily felt strangely disappointed. But then—

 “Ooh,” came Myrtle’s girly coo. “So that’s it.”

  Lily looked around to see Myrtle staring forward, then turned herself to see the mirror in front of her had fogged up. Slowly letters were being written onto the mirror as though an invisible hand was drawing them with its fingers. “Hogsmeade? - JP” was all the invisible hand wrote. Lily thought she might’ve felt as impressed as Myrtle looked. She wished she could find a way to ask Potter what charm he had cast without clueing him in to how fascinated she was.

  “Pity he puts in so much work just to get turned down,” Lily said dismissively to Myrtle, who immediately broke into a long line of aghast indignation (“—if _I_ was ever asked out by a boy like James Potter, oh could you imagine the _look on stupid Olive Hornby’s face_?—“). Lily ignored her as she used the lavatory, and continued to do so as she actually washed her hands. She threw one last glance at the mirror, which had changed to now read, “Say yes, Evans!” and stifled her own laugh as she ventured back to the Potions dungeon.

  She should have suspected it, but was still slightly taken aback by James’ stare as she walked back into the room. She worked to erase the smile from her features as she avoided his gaze. His eyes never wavered from her, and they grew as he watched her she swing around the back of the class to pass his table on the way to hers.

  “Clever charms work, Potter.”

  “I’ll teach you after lunch on Saturday?” he offered, to her rapidly retreating back.

 “It’s not _that_ clever.”

  James understood this to be a no, but there was something in her tone that couldn’t quite destroy the grin that eclipsed his face. Lily, busying herself back at her cauldron, felt Potter needn’t know that she was lying. It certainly was _that_ clever. At least, that’s what her own smile seemed to indicate.

 

_Day 18_

  Wednesdays were horrible days. And for Lily Evans they always had been.

   Without fail it was generally the most difficult day of the week for her, class-wise, and after a full schedule she was typically involved with the Charms club or with tutoring someone in the library. It made for a very exhausting day, and this year she had rounds piled onto her plate. Some times she enjoyed the solace and silence that came with charging around the corridors on her own, but most times she just felt she was wasting hours that could be better spent studying or sleeping. She threw an exasperated look toward her watch as she rounded the corridor on the fifth floor.

  Suddenly she was not walking alone though, and she let out a small groan.

  “Evening, Evans!” His cheerful voice hurt her ears.

 “Hello, Potter. What do you want?” Although she was sure she already knew the answer.

  “Just figured you could use some company. Don’t be cross with him but Moony told me you patrol Wednesday nights and I figured—“

 “Moony?” she cut him off. “What’s that?”

  “That’s our nickname for Remus, of course,” he explained impatiently. “Long story, but that doesn’t matter. How are you doing this fine evening?”

  She threw a quick look out of the corner of her eye but kept her pace steady as he walked beside her. “I’m tired, Potter, to be quite honest. This is the longest day of my week and I’m not really in the mood for company.”

  “Come on, Evans, it could be fun! What are you looking for on rounds anyway? Remus said he sometimes finds younger students lost and out of bed, and occasionally he happens upon older students in rather…iniquitous positions,” James said, raising his eyebrows suggestively as she turned to look at him.

  “It’s not funny, Potter… it’s actually very unpleasant to break up snogging couples,” she informed him. Then softly added, “As I’m sure you know from being caught once or twice yourself…”

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing, nothing,” she muttered, relieved that he hadn’t heard her.

  His eyebrow arched skeptically, but he went on. “I’m sure it’s unpleasant for you, but I hope we catch someone. I’m up for a bit of fun!”

  “What do you mean ‘a bit of fun’?” Now she looked at him uncertainly. She knew James and his mates were notorious for their pranks and their late night adventures, but she couldn’t straighten her face out quickly enough to look disinterested in his jovial suggestion.

  “Oh you know, embarrass them a little? Nothing hurtful,” he added quickly. “They have to be a bit thick to get caught snogging, I suppose, so a bit of embarrassment isn’t too bad, is it?”

  “You really are hopeless,” she replied, shaking her head, but it was diminished by her growing grin. “You aren’t even supposed to be here, and you’re going to waste your time walking around looking for snogging couples?”

  Her voice seemed incredulous, causing his features to morph in obvious confusion.

  “It’s not a waste of time to have a laugh with you, Evans,” he said sincerely, but she would not catch his eye.

  _That was just stupid of you_ , she thought to herself, _you’ve completely set him up. And now it’s awkward._

  But before Lily could respond, she heard a soft noise come from behind the tapestry they had just passed, and she stopped abruptly. James had strode two steps ahead of her, but upon realizing she had stopped, backpedaled to her side again.

  “What’s going on?” he whispered, his senses heightened in excitement. At this Lily felt her pulse unwittingly speed up, the excitement between them tangible.

  “I think you got your wish,” she whispered, turning to look at him again. They were closer now than she could ever remember being, even closer than the night when he asked her to look into his eyes. Her eyes focused on his, and for a moment she was taken aback. She had never given his eyes much thought, even after the other night, as they were always behind his spectacles and generally of no concern to her, but in the lantern light that hung directly above them, she became slightly entranced by the mixture of green and gold. She turned away quickly, and if he had noticed her prolonged stare, he did not comment on it. “What should we do?”

  “Leave it to me,” he whispered back, placing his index finger to his lips as he crept silently forward, his robes brushing past her arm as he went. He was aware of the immense amount of trust she was placing on him, and he did not want to disappoint.

  Lily watched as he inched right up to the tapestry, stealthily prodding his wand through the slip of drapery. He threw her a smirk once more before his wand let out a loud BANG. Immediately the corridor filled with the screams of the – _their_ unsuspecting victims, and James quickly tore the tapestry back so he and Lily could get a proper look. He could feel Lily stifling a giggle as she peered toward the third year students.

  “Now really!” she reprimanded, and James was impressed that she kept the smile off her face. “You two aren’t even original. James Potter, here, was snogging behind this tapestry while you two were still being tucked in by your mums!”

  Indignant though he was at her assertion about him, James couldn’t help but laugh. The third years threw themselves into the corridor, frantically begging Lily to let them off with a warning, and James was surprised to see her oblige.

  “Just this time, all right? And get back to your common rooms before Professor McGonagall finds you, because then you’ll be in real trouble.”

  When the third years had scurried out of sight, Lily let her face soften in laughter. James gladly joined in.

  “I have to admit, that was pretty brilliant, Potter,” Lily complimented a few minutes later when she had regained her composure and continued walking down the corridor.

  “I’ve been known to have a brilliant idea on the occasion.” James looked at her bright cheeks and couldn’t help himself. “Though I imagine my most brilliant idea involves you and I at the Three Broomsticks this Saturday—“

  Her face fell slightly as she shook her head. “Not going to happen, Potter.” Her pace began to quicken slightly, and it made James a little anxious. “You should head back to the common room. My rounds are almost up and you shouldn’t be here anyway. Especially if your intentions were just to badger me for a date.”

  “Oh, well… Sorry to have bothered you, Evans.”

  And without any further preamble, he spun around on his heel and headed in the opposite direction. By the time Lily turned around to look at him, he had already disappeared.

 

   _Day 19_

  Lily sat with Marlene and Mary, at the table they usually reserved in the library the next evening. They were determined to get most of their schoolwork done before the weekend, so they could enjoy the trip to Hogsmeade with little guilt. As the years went on, they were prone to fits of anxiety, particularly the previous year with O.W.L’s, when they went down to Hogsmeade instead of holing up in the library to get good quiet study time in. 

 They had been at it for a few hours already, and were pleased with the progress they were making together, though Lily thought their work was accomplished so quickly because of the slow scrawls they could hear around them from their fellow classmates. Most of the students in the library were fifth year and above, and all seemed to have an unwritten agreement to keep their voices quiet if they even spoke. Even the Marauders sat a few tables away, scrolls and inkwells and books scattered between them, with looks of concentration on each of their faces.

  A few hours in though, James, unbeknownst to Lily or her friends, was growing anxious.

 He cast a nonverbal silencing charm around them and turned to interrupt his friends from their books. “Are you lot finished yet? This is getting boring,” he complained.

  They were used to James casting charms in the library. He hardly ever felt like whispering, which he told them actually drew more attention than just out-right speaking. He looked over their scrolls to find them nearly done and toed the floor impatiently as they finished their sentences.

  “We’re nearly done, Prongs,” Sirius assured him, unnecessarily fact checking something he’d written. “Go play with Evans if you’re bored.”

  “Padfoot,” came Remus’ reproachful voice, placing his own quill down as if prepared to drag James back to his seat if he had taken Sirius’ suggestion to heart. “Lily’s busy, Prongs, don’t go messing around with her now.”

  “I still haven’t asked her out today,” James pointed out, though once Remus saw that James remained firmly in his seat, he withdrew his quill again and found the place he had left off.

  “I hardly think the library is the place for that, Prongs,” Peter warned, casting a glance around for Madam Pince, but she was swooping around elsewhere. “We’re surrounded by classmates, and heavy books, both of which hurt if—“

  But these words, intended to dissuade James from thinking about asking Lily out, inspired him, and he tossed his bag onto his shoulder roughly as he stood up.

  “Good thinking, Wormtail,” James commended, clasping a hand on Peter’s shoulder as he wove his way around the tables and into the vast aisles.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” Remus complained, through Sirius’ chortle. It only took five minutes for Sirius to abandon his nearly finished essay in favor of looking around for his friend. He knew all too well the expression of an inspired James, and it caused an excitement within him that he couldn’t shake.

  Across the library, Lily became aware of the silent but significant movement from the Marauders table. She supposed they had cast a silencing charm to prevent them from disturbing the others, for which she was grateful, but she couldn’t help but look around when she noticed Sirius’ eyes glued to their table. She searched further along and noticed Potter was missing. It became clear to her, a moment too late, that he was up to something.

  Just then a solid book landed in front of her, an encyclopedia, as it turned out. The book was sturdy, brown, and quite old, with the letter G written on the front of it in what once was a shiny gold color. She, Mary, and Marlene all turned about searching for where it had come from but to no avail. Confused, Lily tenderly shifted her fingers over the front cover, wondering if there was a note or message inside somewhere, but as she lifted it upward, another book came over and smashed it closed as it landed next to it. Another encyclopedia, from the same edition, but the O version, which was impossibly bigger than the G, with its gold letter even more faded.

  It wasn’t long before her friends’ curious looks became slightly amused, as another encyclopedia’s O edition came flying behind the next. Then a U and T and W, and when an “I” came bustling through the air toward her, she finally realized what was happening. The books laid side-by-side but then became stacked as they broke into words: GO OUT WITH ME. By the time the E came soaring onto the table, Lily’s face was beet red and the students around her were staring at her, some in confusion, others in annoyance.

  Lily finally jumped out of her seat, whispering in exasperation, “ _Potter, where are you_? Stop that this instant, you tosser!”

  He crept into view from behind a nearby book shelf, clearly intent on keeping a safe distance between him and Lily, but before she could get close enough to him, Madam Pince appeared.

  “What in Merlin’s name! Miss Evans, you are allowed to have three books off the shelf at a time, unless you get my clear consent! After six years, I think you ought to know that—“

  “It wasn’t _me_ ,” Lily insisted, taken aback by the anger that was being directed at her. Mary and Marlene looked wildly at James, who was quick on the uptake.

  “It was me,” James declared, coming into view, a knight without his steed. “I’m sorry, Ma’am, I was looking through the encyclopedias and I kept moving them around trying to find the right one and—“

 His lie was pathetic.

  “You were looking through encyclopedias for what, Mister Potter?”

  “Err…I was looking for information on Patronuses and—“

  “Patronuses, you say? Well, Mister Potter that would be in a book with the giant letter ‘P’ on the front. The letter you write whenever you write your _own name_ ,” Madam Pince explained to him coolly. Lily looked around to see both his and her friends barely containing their laughter. She herself might’ve found Madam Pince amusing had she not just been verbally bashed by the librarian.

  “Oh, of _course_ it is,” James muttered, slapping his hand atop his forehead as if he suddenly realized his mistake. At this Lily’s lips twitched upward, but she managed to stop her smile. “And, look, I had been so close all along with these ‘O’ editions, hadn’t I?”

  “Mister Potter, I suggest you leave before I get Professor McGonagall.” His sass was not lost on her, and, as he didn’t fancy spending his Hogsmeade hopefully-a-date-with-Lily trip in detention with McGonagall instead, he straightened up quickly.

  “Right, I’m sorry. Shall I put those—ah, no, right. Sorry. I’ll just be going.”

  He walked past the fuming librarian, not stopping to say anything to Lily or her friends, but when he was out of Pince’s eye-line, he threw a wide grin and a thumbs up over to Sirius, Remus, and Peter. At this, the boys crammed their homework into their bags and went to follow him. As they walked past the girls table, Remus muttered a quick apology to Lily, who waved him off, but Sirius lingered behind as the other two carried on.

  “Would you like me to relay a response to my insane mate?” he asked Lily, the grin on his face matching both of her friends’.

  “Tell him he’s an idiot,” Lily replied, her voice forcibly cool. “And that he was right to take the fall, considering it was his fault Madam Pince was angry with me.”

  “Should I also tell him you’ll see him on Saturday morning, then?”

  Lily shot a glare toward Mary who could not hold back her laugh at this. “I’d much rather be yelled at by Pince again,” she replied, her voice actually going cool now.

  But Sirius leaned down closer to whisper in her ear before leaving, “No you wouldn’t.”

  Once he had gone, Lily pointedly stared at the homework in front of her, only looking up every few minutes to send glares over to Mary and Marlene, who did not hide their amusement. After about thirty minutes though, her glares stopped.

 

   _Day 20_

 It had finally happened. Friday March 20th marked the day where Lily finally broke her allegiance with Professor McGonagall. It would become an infamous day for the Gryffindor sixth year girls, as Lily would inform them that finally, Professor McGonagall had shattered the unspoken truce between them when she partnered Lily with Potter for an assignment. A rational part of her knew that Professor McGonagall was doing what she felt was best for Lily’s overall success in the class by partnering her with the most talented and intelligent student. But that rational part was miniscule compared to the growing indignant part of Lily who would’ve settled for literally _anyone_ else. Her mind even went far enough to think that failure might be a better option, but this thought lured her back into reality, just as Potter slammed into the chair next to her.

  “Hello, Evans, or should I say partner?”

 She grunted her response, towing her bag onto the desk in front of her to retrieve her textbook and writing supplies. Out of her peripherals she saw Potter procure his own materials and then cheerfully wait for her to finally acknowledge him. Begrudgingly, she suggested that they split the written portion in half, so once they finished they could compare notes and construct a more thorough write-up. To her shock and gratitude, Potter agreed instantly to her plan and opened his textbook to the correct section.

  At this Lily was torn between amusement and skepticism, and she was sure it showed on her face as she threw small glances his way. It was dreadful being partnered with him; he distracted her easily as he shifted about in his seat, or scratched a note here-or-there on his parchment. Time crept by, despite her wildly moving mind, and she found that she had gotten nothing accomplished.

  Frustrated, she turned to him, “Potter, out with it already!”

  Even being addressed by his surname didn’t break his concentration, and she watched as he finished reading the last sentence of a page before setting the book down to look at her. “What are you talking about, Evans? I’ve just found a very good bit of information we should expand on—“

  “Oh, come off it already. Aren’t you going to ask me?”

  “Ask you what? I thought we were going to discuss the best facts to put into the essay together after we’d done the research, weren’t we?

  She hadn’t bought his confusion before, but part of her was wavering now. He looked utterly baffled as he questioned her; but it was too late, she had already drawn the conversation this far, and she knew he wouldn’t be able to let it go if she didn’t see it through.

  “I’m not talking about the assignment, Potter. You’re going to ask me to go with you to Hogsmeade tomorrow, we both know it! So get on with it already, yeah?”

  James felt a smile growing on his face, and she wished to curse it out of existence. “I didn’t think you’d be so eager considering what happened yesterday, but I’ll play along. Dearest Lily Evans—“

 “No!” she interrupted, grateful to get it over with.

  “Well that was certainly rude. I hadn’t even finished my question yet, if you hadn’t noticed!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she muttered, unapologetically back to him. “Go on, finish.”

  He cleared his throat pointedly, his attention fully on her face, the green flecks in his eyes in full view as he spoke. “Dearest Lily Evans, will you do me the honor of accompanying me to Hogsmeade tomorrow?”

  “Well done, Potter. No.”

 “It’s not nice to get my hopes up with your eagerness for me to ask, only to say no, Evans. Bad form.” He watched as she rolled her eyes in response, then returned, unperturbed, to the place he had left off in the textbook.

  This only infuriated Lily more, although she hadn’t the faintest idea why. They remained seated side-by-side as the rest of the Transfiguration period went on. He was infuriatingly helpful, and mastered the spell after only two tries; then he even managed to help her achieve it on her sixth try. By the end of the class, when they had finished their assignment magnificently, Lily found herself in the worst mood yet. And later on in the day when her friends questioned her incessantly for an answer to her sullen mood, the only thing that popped into her mind to say to her friends was, “McGonagall is a traitor.”

 

   _Day 21_

  It was finally here, the Hogsmeade weekend that had been in the forefront of her mind for nearly three weeks, although it was often put there unceremoniously so by Potter’s unrelenting proposals. Still, the excitement was a childish excitement and it filled the entire sixth year girl’s dormitory. They all knew it was stupid to get into such a tither about going to Hogsmeade when they had been going for over three years now, but it was impossible to not get excited. However much they loved the castle, it was still nice to get a break from ghosts and secret passage ways and enjoy normal shops.

  More than that, though, Lily saw this as the end of Potter’s nagging proposals. She had refused every insistence he had made, in person or otherwise, and now that the day was upon them and he had magnificently failed at getting her to go with him, she felt assured that his game was over. She ignored the little part of her that was impressed and even somewhat thrilled by his requests. Though she was not inclined to say yes, it had been a fun topic of discussion over the last few weeks when she, Marlene, and Mary laid about their dormitory.

“What will Potter do next?”

 “How had he even come up with that, anyway?”

 “I still can’t figure out what charm he used.”

  The discussions nearly always ended with laughter, and left them feeling light-hearted as they fell asleep or went down to dinner. So in some ways, she would miss the proposals, albeit in an insincere and twisted way. At one time, she relished the idea of turning Potter down, of tossing his proposals back in his face, and sure, some of his antics were still arrogant or troublesome, but then she knew not all of them had been. Some had been genuine, a couple even _sweet_.

  Lily tried to clear her head of these thoughts as they walked onto the bright, warming grounds and headed toward the village they would spend a blissful afternoon at. It was tradition for Marlene, Mary, and Lily to go to The Three Broomsticks first, and no matter how crowded it got or how long they had to wait, they always went there to start their visit off with a butterbeer. As soon as they pulled open the large wooden door of The Three Broomsticks, they knew today would be no different.

  Mary and Marlene led the way through the crowd of students, forcing themselves through to the bar, as Lily searched for a vacant table. To her immense surprise she found one tucked in the furthest corner of the pub, with three chairs already around it. She hustled through the crowd of students, and luckily claimed the territory as her own before anyone else had thought to sit there. She had gone out of sight from Marlene and Mary though, so as she sat she kept an eye out for them.

  “Good morning,” came the unmistakably cheery voice of James Potter, and had she not be so elated with finding this table, she might have groaned.

  He swiftly sat beside her, brandishing a tankard of butterbeer toward her. Because he often slammed into chairs or slunk into them with tangled limbs, she took notice of the suave way in which he now slid onto the seat.

  “Drink up,” he said once he realized she wasn’t grabbing for it. He pushed the butterbeer closer to her.

  “What are you doing here?” she queried, her eyes narrowing.

  “I’m offering you a butterbeer. I bought it specifically for you,” he informed her, his smile growing.

  “But I said no, Potter,” she reiterated stupidly. “You’ve asked me and I’ve already said no. Just because you show up here doesn’t make this a date.”

  He looked around at her words, as if expecting a sign set upon their table, indicating it as such. She must have realized what he was playing at, because her eyes narrowed even more when he finally turned his attention back to her.

  “What’s a date anyway? A bloke and a bird out enjoying each other’s company with a nice beverage? By that criteria, we actually _are_ on a date, Evans.”

  Lily snorted, “Even if that _were_ the case, Potter, this is hardly a date. We may be a bloke and a bird with nice beverages, but you should note that I am certainly not enjoying your company.”

 “You accepted my butterbeer, and you haven’t asked me to leave,” he pointed out.

 “First off, I would be a fool to pass on a butterbeer, when I’m fairly certain you haven’t poisoned it. Secondly, go away, Potter.”

  He laughed despite her, and because of her. “Come on, Evans, it wouldn’t kill you to spend an afternoon with me, would it?”

  “It might. And I tend to err on the side of caution when dealing with my own safety.”

  James’ laugh caused Lily’s mouth to twist upward. “I can appreciate your sense of self-preservation, but lighten up. We’re already here, Evans, may as well enjoy it.”

  “I’m here with Mary and Marlene, and they should be along any moment with more butterbeers.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” James told her, tipping his hand slightly.

  “What does that mean?” Lily questioned, setting down her butterbeer and turning to look at him. His smile faded behind his own butterbeer.

  “It means nothing,” James back-tracked. But Lily had already gotten to her feet, leaving the butterbeer forgotten on the table as she broke through the crowd.

  Her head moved around manically, and James followed closely behind her. Finally she spotted Marlene and Mary sitting down with the Marauders. When she approached her friends, laughter still etched in their features, looked up to see her.

  “There you are!” Mary exclaimed, as she and Potter stood properly in front of the table. “Sorry, we lost track of time talking to the boys. They said James was off to find you.”

  “I was over there with a table for us,” Lily told them, her thumb pointing behind her.

 “Why don’t you ladies stay with us?” Sirius offered, barely hiding the glance he threw at James. There was a clear plan between them, a plan that perhaps involved his friend entertaining hers, to give Potter time to find her. To Lily’s amusement, the plan had clearly failed.

  “No thanks. We would prefer a day with just us girls,” Lily answered, as her friends extracted themselves from the booth.

 And with Mary and Marlene in tow, Lily led the way back to the table still empty in the corner of the pub. Upon seeing the abandoned butterbeers still atop the table, she swung back around grasping the drinks in hand and bustled over to the bar for a new one. She was aware of James’ eyes on her back at the bar, and threw a quick look behind her to see that it had just been a fleeting look. She exhaled, thinking again that she had witnessed James’ final attempt fail.

  Little did she know how very wrong she was.

 

  _Day 22_

The Sundays that followed trips to Hogsmeade were always quiet ones, similar, in fashion, to the Sundays that followed Quidditch matches. Lily and her friends, who had already finished their homework, lounged around their dormitory, carefree, with the window open admitting a nice breeze, while the wireless hummed merrily from Mary’s night-stand. Through the haze, Lily listened vaguely at the gossip Mary regaled them from the latest edition of _Witch Weekly_.

 Lily felt her eyes go heavy, and was moments from succumbing to a pleasant late-afternoon nap when Marlene shook her shoulder.

  “You can’t go to sleep, Lily, you have to get ready for Professor Slughorn’s dinner!”

  Lily swore, her eyes popping back open. With her mind finally at ease from school work or her other extracurricular activities (like saying no to dates) she’d almost forgotten she agreed to go to Professor Slughorn’s dinner party. Though she was never particularly thrilled to go to Slug Club events, today she was even less enthused. But she went, dutiful as she was.

“Miss Evans!” Professor Slughorn greeted upon her arrival, “so pleased you could make it!”

 Lily fixed her best smile as she crossed the threshold of the Potions Masters’ office. Though she had been there a multitude of times over the previous three years, Lily never quite felt as comfortable there as she should have. This was in part due to the overly-boisterous Professor Slughorn, who often dragged her around to meet people, and also because she was the only Gryffindor in her year to ever attend, or be invited, as far as she knew.

  After spending fifteen minutes of tedious conversation with Professor Slughorn and a reluctant Hufflepuff fifth year that Lily quickly forgot the name of, she gracefully extracted herself from the conversation and found sanctuary by the refreshment table. Though she was a sitting duck by the place most people visited, it gave her an unobstructed view that allowed for a quick escape should anyone ambush her. Except—

  “All right, Evans?” a familiar voice behind her asked; she all but groaned, continuing to nurse her drink as if she hadn’t heard him, having realized her escape attempts would be futile. But when he came to her side, towering over her, she had no choice but to acknowledge him.

  “What are you doing here, Potter?”

  He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging, “Knew you’d be here.”

 She could feel her face warm in betrayal. “Since when did you join the Slug Club?” she diverted, and her eyes narrowed when he responded with a laugh.

 “Slughorn’s been asking Sirius and me to come for _years_. Though, by the end of fourth year, we decided to start getting detentions every time he asked so we’d have an excuse not to come. I think he caught on and gave up asking for a bit.”

  “You’re telling me you purposefully got detentions to avoid Professor Slughorn’s dinners and parties?”

 “Yes.”

  Lily couldn’t help but snort into her drink. “Well, that’s pretty brilliant, Potter. Or mad. Haven’t made up my mind which yet.”

 “Well when it comes to Sirius and me, those two concepts seem to align fairly often,” he told her, his smile at her snort turning into a smirk.

  After refilling his cup, and offering to refresh hers, they fell into silence. Still standing side-by-side they vaguely watched the other members of the Slug Club in their various discussions. Both were grateful to find Slughorn heavily involved in a conversation with a Slytherin seventh year, as neither were keen to converse with him themselves. After five minutes of people-watching, James noticed the waiters swooping over to the table, beginning to set it up for their dinner, and he turned to Lily.

  “Want to get out of here, Evans?”

  “What?”

  He turned to look at her fully now, “Do you want to get out of here?”

  “I can’t, I told Professor Slughorn I would be here. I couldn’t just _leave_ , he would notice and—Potter why are you _laughing_?”

  “Oh ye of little faith, Evans. Do you think I don’t have an idea? Me? The King of Diversions—!” Lily snorted again in her drink, momentarily distracted from her wonderment by his confidence “—but really, Evans. Do you want to stick around this sorry excuse for a party, or are we going to get you out of here?”

  Lily cocked an eyebrow at him, her eyes studying his excited expression. “What’s your plan?”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “What’s—“

 “Yes or no! Now. Decide.”

 “Potter—“

  “Evans, you’re a Gryffindor. You don’t want to be here. Now take a risk with me. _Yes or no_?”

  “Yes, but—“

  “Leave it to me,” he told her, handing her his drink before ducking behind her and out of sight. She turned to watch him through the crowd but found that he had already gone. Her brow furrowed in confusion. There couldn’t have been more than twenty students there, but he concealed himself among them with ease. She was still marveling at that fact when there was a loud noise from the corner of the room, rendering everyone quiet and drawing all eyes toward it.

  The door to Professor Slughorn’s office had opened with a loud bang as it slammed into the stone wall behind it. Two girls near the door let out high pitched screams as a rat came scurrying into the room, followed closely by a great black dog. The rat was squealing noisily as it tore around the room, the dog’s thundering paws closely behind it in its chase. But the rat was quick in diverting directions and the dog, stumbling in its attempt to catch the rat, cracked into the edge of the dining table with its hind legs. With a thundering boom, the table legs gave way and the plates and goblets filled with food and mead tumbled onto the floor, scattered and broken.

  Professor Slughorn’s face was blotchy and red, a mixture of rage and confusion at the sudden appearance of the animals that had his dinner splattered on the floor and his guests running around in panic.

  Lily watched on, her own face torn between amusement and confusion, until suddenly a hand pulled at her wrist. She turned on the spot to find a grinning James Potter, his hair messier than it had been before. He was clearly delighted.

  “Let’s go!” he beckoned, gently tugging at her hand. “I think Sluggy will be a bit too preoccupied to notice your absence now, yeah?”

  Throwing a look behind her, she allowed James to tow her out of the room. Pleased as she was to be leaving, she was reluctant to tear her eyes from the scene as the dog was attempting to eat the fallen food while it continued running after the rat.

  She was still laughing loudly when James had finally dropped her hand, three floors above Professor Slughorn’s office. James had long since joined in, in his frenzy to put distance between them and Slughorn, but when they stopped he allowed himself to watch her laugh. Her cheeks were pink and there were tears in her eyes.

  “That was—that was—wow. What _was_ that?” she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes as she finally regained control over her laughter.

  “I told you I could get you out of there,” he replied smugly. He dug his hands into his pockets as they began walking back to their common room.

  “But how? How did you get that rat? Or that dog?”

  James’ hand slipped out of his pocket and into his hair at her question. “I’m the King of Diversions, don’t you remember?”

  She paused now, her eyes narrowing slightly, as they were inclined to do when looking at James Potter. Especially a guilty James Potter.

  “How?” she repeated again, the laughter quickly leaving her face.

  “Don’t you mind.”

 “But I _do_ mind, Potter.”

  His smile faded into a frown to match hers. “I have my secrets, Evans. You might think I’m just a transparent toe-rag, but there’s more to me than that.”

  She bit her lip at these words. Secrets? James Potter had secrets? Well, that wasn’t entirely surprising. Arrogant though he might be, he seemed smart enough to keep certain things to himself, like secrets about his pranks, or girls he’s snogged in the past. But there was something in his tone that indicated this was a secret of an entirely different matter altogether. The fire in his eyes solidified her assumption: this secret was untouchable.

  “Though,” he began, the mischievous glint returning to his eyes, “I might be inclined to clue you in if you go to the next Quidditch match with me. Ravenclaw and Slytherin next month. It’ll be a riot.”

  “I doubt that very much,” she replied shortly, turning to walk down the corridor again. They weren’t too far from their own common room.

  “Doubt what? Trust me, Evans, the match will be a laugh. But it’s still Quidditch—“

  “No, I mean I doubt you’d tell me your secrets even if I did go out with you,” she reiterated over her shoulder to him. “So no, Potter, using my minimal intrigue will not further your agenda.”

  “I might surprise you one day, Evans,” he told her, but his voice was distant and she turned to find he had stopped walking beside her. “I just might.”

  She rolled her eyes in response, before continuing to walk again, untroubled by her recent lack of companionship.

  “Oh and Evans?” he paused, waiting for her to acknowledge him again. “You’re welcome. Though next time you get invited to another Slug Club party, I’ll save us both time and polite chit-chats, and get you a detention. How’s that sound?”

  Grateful to be nearly to the end of the corridor and easily able to stifle her laugh, she called back, “Don’t make me hex you, Potter.”

  She could still hear his own chortle as she rounded the corridor, and found herself joining in.

 

_Day 23_

  _Tap, tap, tap_.

  _Tap, tap, tap._

_Tap, tap, tap._

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?!” came the shriek of barely-awake Mary Macdonald, as she thrust her bed-hangings open. “It is too bloody early for this,” she seethed as her eyes searched the room for the culprit. Finally she spotted the tawny owl perched on their window and quickly moved to grant it entrance.

 The owl immediately flew over to Lily’s bed-side table, knocking a few of her belongings to the floor as it landed. Groaning, Lily turned over to see the familiar owl.

 “Who is sending you mail at this God forsaken hour?” Mary grumbled, slouching her way over to Lily’s bed. Lily herself didn’t answer, as she began to read the parchment she had detached from Owl Sirius’ leg.

 

  _Dearest Lily,_

_Your beauty is unparalleled_

_You must have me under a spell_

_It all started in 3 rd year when you loaned me a quill_

_And the passion I have for you remains still_

_But we are distant and apart_

_And it is tearing at my heart_

_I think I found the potion cure_

_But I need your help to know for sure_

_So if you could please whip me up a batch_

_And accompany me to the Quidditch match_

_I’m certain you’ll find the only way_

_That I’ll be able to grow old some day_

_Lily, I assure you it’ll be quite a laugh_

_Watching Slytherin’s defeated wrath_

_So, I ask, Evans go out with me_

_I assure you I’m pleasant company_

_PS_

_And if you still doubt my preferences_

_Never fear, for I have references_

 

 

  In her half-asleep state Lily reread the poem three times, each time apparently solidifying her theory that she was in fact still sleeping. However, Mary’s persistent mumblings brought her back to reality, and she rose instantly to dress.

  Though she herself wasn’t much of a morning person, she knew there were plenty of students who were already down in the Great Hall eating breakfast, and she had a feeling there would be one in particular she wanted to find. Ignoring Mary’s confused protest she tore out of the dormitory and when she arrived in the Great Hall, she found her target instantly.

 “Potter this is by _far_ the worst attempt at poetry I have ever had the misfortune of reading,” Lily told him, matter-of-factly as she slammed the parchment down next to him at the table.

  “Don’t go telling Sirius that. He’s right proud of the work we put into that you know,” James said grinning, his voice holding back laughter. At this Lily bit back her own laugh, her mind immediately traveling to the boys’ dormitory – imagining he and Sirius crouched over the parchment working to find words that rhymed.

 “Did you honestly think this was going to work?” Lily wondered, leaning her knee on the bench next to him. His smile remained wide.

  “No, I can’t say I did. But we had a pretty excellent time writing it, and it got you out of bed earlier than I’ve ever seen you. So that’s got to count for something, right?” He paused, waiting for a reaction from her, but when she remained unrelenting, he continued, “Come have a bit of toast, Evans. Might as well eat while you’re here.”

  After looking at him for a long moment, Lily sighed and plopped down next to him. “It’s so early,” she whined, grabbing a slice of toast and some jam.

 James simply smiled at her as she sat there next to him, _almost touching him_ , quietly nibbling at her toast. Yes, he decided, it definitely counted for something.

 

_Day 24_

  She heard the reverberations of the striding footsteps on the floor before she saw them. Closing her eyes in anticipation, she leaned back on the starch white sheets, her hair splaying wildly behind her.

  “What did you _do_?” the voice accused, mere feet from her now.

  “What are you doing here, Potter?” she questioned softly. She was in no mood to bicker with him, especially not in the Hospital Wing with her right arm bandaged. “Madam Pomfrey just sent away Marlene and Mary, how did you slip by her?”

  “I didn’t,” he answered easily, pulling up a chair beside her bed, “I can just sweet talk her better than McKinnon and Macdonald can. We have a history, you know? I beat myself up during Quidditch and she yells at me like my mum would. It’s been working well for the past three years or so.”

  “Well bully for you.”

 “But that’s beside the point,” he continued hurriedly. “What did you do?”

 She finally sat up again and turned to look at him, brandishing her bandaged arm under his nose. “I burnt my arm in Potions today. Which you would have known had you bothered showing up.”

  “I over-slept,” James defended instantly, eying her arm wearily. “Not much I could’ve done for you even if I were there, though.”

  Lily sighed, leaning back against the pillow once more. “That’s true. I just want to get out of here!” Her eyes casted a look over to Pomfrey’s closed office door, as if willing her to come out and release her.

  “How long are you in for?” His solemn tone almost made her smile. It was as if they were prisoners locked behind bars, sympathetic to each other’s criminal sentences.

  “Don’t know. She wants me to get some rest but I’m _fine_!” Lily said, her voice rising at the end in an attempt to have it carry beyond the closed office door.

  James chuckled. “There will be no reasoning with her, I assure you. I’m just now getting somewhere with her, and, believe me, I put in some serious time with her to get here.”

  “Once again, bully for you!”

 James’ smile didn’t waver, even with her crossing her arms and staring him down. He rose from the chair, sliding it roughly across the floor so it skidded with an unpleasant screech. “Well, I’m going to get to class now that I know you are in perfect health.” He turned to walk toward the door, before calling over his shoulder. “Get some rest, will you? Pomfrey knows what she’s doing. If she thinks sleeping will help cure your arm faster, you should try to get a few hours in.”

  Lily merely waved in response, but even as she did, she felt her eyelids begin to droop. She nuzzled further into the pillow, shimmying the sheets around all but her bandaged arm, and felt herself drift off.

  A few hours later, she awoke, wildly disoriented and momentarily unaware of where she was. The sight of her arm brought her back to her senses, and she was delighted to find the faint sting of the burn had completely vanished over the time she spent sleeping. Stifling a yawn as she stretched her arms above her head, she turned to see a small bag sitting on the bed-side table. After looking around to see if Madam Pomfrey was nearby, she reached over and carefully dropped the bag into her lap. Atop it she found a small slip of parchment.

  _Evans,_

_I’m glad you are resting. I stopped by with Macdonald and McKinnon at lunch but you were out cold. Figured you would enjoy this when you woke up, as the food Pomfrey serves isn’t fit to feed to flobberworms. Trust me, I know from experience. After my bad Quidditch fall in fourth year, Sirius and I nicked some food and tried to feed it to a flobberworm._

_Anyway, enjoy._

_J Potter_

_PS Speaking of Quidditch, are you sure you don’t want to go to the Eagles vs Snakes game with me?_

  Yes, she was quite sure she didn’t, even as she pulled open the bag to find meat pies and roasted potatoes that made her mouth water. Averse though she was to his proposal, she was grateful he had thought to bring her dinner. _Not bad at all, Potter_ she thought before silently digging in to her delicious food.

 She was nearly finished with her second potato when she heard the echo of footsteps approaching. Hastily stuffing the food back into the sack and thrusting it under the bed sheets, she turned to watch the door. She visibly relaxed when she saw two smiling faces appear.

  “Thank Merlin it’s you two,” she managed to say before digging back into the food once more.

 “Were you expecting someone else?” Mary questioned, coming to her bed side. “A certain admirer perhaps?”

  Lily rolled her eyes, missing the look exchanged between her two friends as they sat down near her bed. “Was hoping it was Madam Pomfrey here to discharge me, but I’ll settle for you two.”

 Mary responded with a noise of mock-chagrin. “Way to make us feel loved, Evans.”

 “Where’d you get that dinner anyway?” Marlene asked, though Lily had an inkling she already knew where and how and from whom.

  “Your new best mate left it for me,” she told her, coolly. “But I expect you knew that already.” She sent a pointed look at the two of them, which they returned unabashedly. “He left a note saying you lot came to visit earlier.”

“We did,” Marlene confirmed. “And he told us he’d already seen you before that.”

“Hmm,” was all Lily felt compelled to reply to that.

“He was concerned,” Marlene tried again, watching as Lily looked pointedly down at her food.

“I can’t see why,” Lily answered, shrugging. “It was just a small burn from the potion, which Madam Pomfrey fixed rather quickly. I expect she’ll discharge me after she gets back from supper.”

“He’s concerned because he fancies you, Lily.”

“He _told_ you that?” Lily asked, looking up from her food to properly gaze at Marlene, her eyebrow arched.

 “No, he didn’t have to. We already know he does,” Marlene explained simply. “We can tell by the way he talks—“

 “Marlene,” Lily cut in, her voice calm and calculated. “It’s James Potter we’re talking about. This is all just a game to him. A rather long and ridiculous game, but nothing more—“

 “How can you still think that after what he’s done?” Mary questioned, her mouth gaping.

Lily’s brow furrowed. “Whose side are you on?”

  Mary let out a derisive noise, “We’re your best mates, Lily, but we’re not blind. We’re on your side and always have been, but we aren’t going to ignore the truth.”

  “We’re not saying he’s the brightest bloke in the world,” Marlene added, once she realized Lily wasn’t rushing to interrupt. “But he’s trying. We honestly think he’s just trying to get your attention.”

 “In awful ways,” Mary amended.

 “Yes, some awful ways…but then the others…” Marlene allowed her voice to drift off, as Lily turned her attention back to her dinner.

The three girls sat quietly as Lily continued to eat the rest of her potato and then another meat pie. She attempted and failed to force her mind to think about anything besides James Potter, and some of the intricate ways he had asked her out. She knew he had a knack for creativity, having seen many pranks he and his friends had pulled over the years, but this was an entirely new level. She wouldn’t go so far as thinking his antics were a prank in themselves, but it was entirely unbelievable to think that he actually fancied her. Boys and girls like him and her, they just didn’t work. That’s what her gut had been telling her for years, and what her friends had agreed with at the end of the previous year when he had the audacity to ask her out after their Defense O.W.L. And a few kind proposals weren’t going to alter the fact that whatever had changed _their_ minds, couldn’t possibly change _hers_.

 Finally satisfied, she wiped her mouth, closed the bag, and let her eyes fall back to her friends. They had been watching her, expectantly.

  “I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” she told them simply. “Whether he fancies me or not is inconsequential, and that’s that.”

  “But…” Mary said slowly, before realizing defeat and shutting her mouth.

 After a few painful minutes of forced conversation, Madam Pomfrey finally arrived to inspect Lily’s arm. Mary and Marlene waited by the door patiently until Lily was discharged. They didn’t speak of James for the rest of the night but he crossed each of their minds – even Lily’s, much to her dismay.

 

_Day 25_

  The next morning, Lily awoke unhappily to the noise of rustling footsteps and hurried conversation. Groaning, she rolled over to the side of the bed where her curtains weren’t completely closed, propping herself onto her elbows as a shape shifted by.

 “Wassit?” she mumbled through a yawn, her eyes barely fluttering open.

 “We’ve over-slept, Lily!” Mary called as she walked past again.

 “Oh Merlin!” Lily exhaled, wildly swinging her legs over her bed as she pulled her curtains to the side fully.

  The next ten minutes were perfect chaos. Lily, who ducked under her bed looking for a fresh pair of socks, found Marlene’s missing left shoe and attempted to put it on herself until she realized it was two sizes too big. Mary, in her haste, wound up spilling the contents of her school bag all over the floor and began shoving everything higgledy-piggledy back into the tote before Marlene came to her senses and assisted her with magic. When they finally sprinted their way into the Great Hall, shirts still untucked and hair unbrushed, they had only fifteen minutes to eat before the start of their first lesson.

  As they walked through the hall, between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables they found most students turned to look at them. Self-conscious, Lily ran her fingers through her knotted hair as Mary tried to subtly tuck the back of her shirt into her skirt.

  “We don’t look that bad, do we?” Marlene whispered as they finally took their seats, not far from where the Marauders sat.

  “Good morning girls,” Sirius called to them as they began shuffling food onto their plates. “Slept in, did you?”

  But none of the girls felt the need to reply in their haste to eat. In fact, they paid little attention to anything else besides their choice of breakfast until the ruffling of newspapers all around them became overwhelming. It drew Marlene’s attention first.

  “Is it just me or has everyone got a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ today?” she asked, observantly, between bites of sausage. Her comment drew the attention of her friends.

  Lily looked around for a moment, then, untroubled, shrugged and went back to her food. Mary however turned to the third year seated nearest her. “Oy you there – give me that for a moment, would you?”

  The third year didn’t even feign protest, swiftly handing the wrinkled parchment over to Mary’s out-stretched hand. She folded the paper carefully, beginning her search from the front page, and gradually working through the paper, convinced that she would know what she was looking for when she found it. It wasn’t until the second to last page when that happened. Mary’s mouth gaped open slightly before her hand immediately shot over her mouth to stifle the giggle. Lily sat across from her, entirely uninterested due to her state of tiredness. Marlene, however, bent to look over Mary’s shoulder and a similar expression materialized on her face.

 With great effort, she balanced her voice, “Err…Lily.”

  “Mm?” Lily nodded, as she concentrated on pouring herself a new glass of juice.

  “You might want to see this…”

 “See what?” Lily asked tiredly. She didn’t want to read articles about more disappearances or murders or anti-Muggleborn legislation. Especially on a day like today. But Marlene insisted on thrusting the paper under her nose. Lily’s eyes traveled over the top of the parchment which was labeled “Classified Ads”, her eyebrows knitting in confusion until she realized what she was meant to find.

  The advert was six times the size of the others in the paper, though not for need of space. The words were large and bold and they bled through her mind just as the ink had done to the paper: “James Potter seeking Girlfriend – Only girls named Lily Evans need apply”

  But before she could even react, Mary had gotten the girlfriend-seeker-in-question’s attention. “Oy, Potter! Are you off your rocker?”

  At this, James tore himself off the bench next to Remus and threw himself into the seat nearest Mary, his face flushing slightly, sheepishly.

  “Hey, no need to yell about it. The whole school has seen it already.”

 “Well wasn’t that the point?” Lily shot back, before she could help herself. James opened his mouth like a goldfish but had no chance to speak.

 “What did we _just_ talk about yesterday?” Mary cut in, her head shaking in disappointment. “After that conversation you still go and do something like _this_?”

  “Wait, what?” Lily asked, turning her attention from James to Mary.

  “I didn’t do it today, I’d already paid for the advert last week! I tried to owl them to pull it but it was too late to get a refund and they’d already started printing it,” James explained, almost pleadingly. He turned to face Lily, “Evans, I’m sorry. I know you don’t appreciate when I make a big spectacle of things. It won’t happen again.”

 And with that, he rose, curtly nodding at Mary and Marlene before striding back over to his friends, slinging his bag over his shoulder, and marching out of the hall with his friends at his heels.

  “All right, so what was that?” Lily asked slowly, as they too began collecting their things and heading to class.

  “Sorry, Lil,” Marlene said quietly, her hands twisting together in front of her as they walked. “When we came to visit you in the Hospital Wing yesterday, we might’ve had a discussion about his attempts to ask you out.”

  “You might have?”

  “Well, we did. It wasn’t a particularly long conversation, we just told him he was going about it wrong—“

  “Why wouldn’t you just tell him to stop altogether?” Lily wondered aloud.

  Mary shrugged, “Because he fancies you. And I think part of you is sort of fond of him, too.”

  But before Lily could answer, they had already found their seats in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Bones silenced them. She tried to get her point across by sending a small glare over toward Mary, but she was avoiding Lily’s eyes.

  Lily refrained from speaking about the personal advert or James Potter for the rest of the day, as her mind reeled on and on about it. Despite the frequency of Mary and Marlene’s profuse apologies about advising James, she refused to acknowledge their comments while Mary’s other words bounced around her brain, tormenting her: _Part of you is sort of fond of him_.

 

  _Day 26_

  “Evans.”

 She pointedly ignored the voice that was breaking through her concentration, then dipped her quill back into her inkwell before scratching away at her essay again.

  “Evans,” the voice called again, closer this time.

 Out of her peripherals she could see his trainers come into sight, but before his face came swimming into view, a bouquet of flowers were shoved under her nose. White tulips. Despite herself, she grabbed them from him, her eyes shooting upward to meet his. He softly sat himself down into the chair next to her.

  “Hi,” he said simply.

 “Hello,” she responded, her voice slightly cool. “What are you doing here?”

 “I came to apologize for yesterday.”

 “Oh, you have, have you?”

 “Yes,” he reiterated calmly, his eyes watching as her fingers ran delicately down the petals of a large blooming tulip. “I don’t regret asking you out, mind you, and I still stand by it. I do want to take you out on a date, Evans. But I do regret causing a rift between you and McKinnon and Macdonald. And I reckon I need to apologize for that.”

 Lily looked at him curiously for a moment before setting the bouquet down on the table in front of her and reaching for her quill again. She didn’t want to see his concern – he was so good at faking it that it scared her. Part of her was beginning to think he wasn’t faking it, and that scared her even more. Furthermore, she didn’t want to consider how or why he knew about distance she was putting between herself and her friends.

  “Don’t be mad at your friends, Evans,” James’ calm voice told her, seemingly unperturbed by her silence. “It’s not their fault they took pity on me. I’m rather pathetic if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Lily laughed despite herself. “Yeah, all right, I might have noticed.”

  James smiled at her, a smile too genuine for someone who had just been called pathetic by the girl he allegedly fancied. “Well I’m glad you haven’t been fooled by my cleverly masked façade,” he told her, causing her eyes to fall to his again. “I’m just a pathetic bloke who wants a date—“

  “Like you’d know what to do if you got one,” she interrupted, unable to help herself. James looked at her puzzled. “You keep asking for a date, but I don’t think you’d be able to handle it if I actually said yes, Potter.”

  At this James laughed. “Couldn’t handle it, you say? Evans, I would just need _five_ minutes to sweep you off your feet—“

  “Is that all you last, Potter?” she found herself saying. James’ eyebrows shot into his hair.

  “You little minx,” James chided, as he held back his laughter. “I’m actually offended you think I’d put out on the first date. I’m no slag, Evans.”

  Lily rolled her eyes in response before ducking her head back down to cover her growing smile. “It wouldn’t matter to me either way, Potter. You’re free to do as you please.”

 When he didn’t immediately continue the banter, Lily looked at him. He was staring intently at her for a moment, as if considering what to say. Or perhaps, what not to say.

  “Lily,” he said, in a quiet breathy voice moments later, rising to his feet, “Forgive your friends, all right? There’s nothing more important than keeping good friends around. Don’t lose them for anything. Especially not because of me.”

  She watched as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, all traces of jest gone from his face. Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, she gave him a small nod. “I’ve already forgiven them.”

  “Good,” he replied, returning her nod with one of his own. “I do still want to sit with you at the next match,” he added quietly, before spinning on his heel and heading toward the exit. Though he said it as an offer, his reluctance to waiting for a response indicated he was already aware of what her answer would be. She stared after him for a long time, wondering why he thought she was upset with her friends to begin with – and more importantly, wondering why she didn’t tell him she wasn’t upset with _them_ at all.

 

_Day 27_

 The Gryffindor common room was filled with the sound of cheers, laughter, and the humming of the newest Wizard rock song on the wireless. Students third year and younger were unceremoniously banished from the raucous party that was going on, while older students milled about with butterbeers (and some even firewhiskey) clutched in hand. All signs that indicated James Potter was now seventeen.

  Lily knew it was coming. Even though she didn’t particularly like him, she knew when his birthday was approaching. Every Gryffindor knew when all the Marauders birthdays were approaching, because they always vocalized their plans to over-take the common room on those nights, and threatened to hex anyone who protested their plans or breathed a word of them to Professor McGonagall. In previous years the gatherings were small and less wild, though they usually ended in a fireworks display that filled the common room with smoke for the following three days. However, in their zeal to celebrate their coming-of-age birthdays, their parties this year had been less tame. James, being the youngest of the Marauders, had the biggest celebration of the four and even Lily couldn’t help herself from being present for the festivities.

  She sat with Mary and Marlene in the chairs at the end of the common room, sitting furthest from the fire where the Marauders gathered. Even from the distance and the roar of the wireless, they could still hear Sirius Black’s loud, bark-like laughs. Despite herself, Lily felt her foot tapping along to the song as she brought the butterbeer bottle to her lips.

 “Enjoying yourself?” Mary asked, leaning closer as she teased Lily, gesturing to her foot.

 Lily shrugged, setting the bottle onto the table to her right. “This song is rather catchy.”

 “Yeah, it is,” Marlene agreed, her eyes venturing over to the fire place for the hundredth time since the party began. “Have you two wished James a happy birthday, yet?”

  “I have,” Mary confirmed. “Ran into him in the corridor earlier as he was bringing in the butterbeer. How about you, Lil?”

  “No,” Lily said, unabashed, as if his birthday was of no consequence to her. “It goes without saying, I think.”

  Her friends turned around to look at her, in clear disagreement. “You should go over and wish him a happy birthday. It’s a big birthday, seventeen and all.”

 At Marlene’s words, Lily felt herself turning in her chair to look at James. His cheeks were flushed and his mouth wide as he laughed adamantly at something Peter had just told him. She noticed that everyone within earshot was laughing; other Gryffindor girls and boys were intermingled with the Marauders, some playing Exploding Snap, some lounging in the plush chairs, and others dancing to the new song coming through the radio.

  “He looks busy,” Lily commented, her eyes still flittering around the group. “He won’t have noticed I was even here.” Mary’s laugh brought Lily’s eyes away from the group by the fire. “What?” she asked, defensively.

  “He’s definitely going to notice, don’t kid yourself, Lily,” Marlene answered wisely. Lily rolled her eyes.

  “I’m not going over there when he’s with all of those people. We’ll just get into a row and ruin their fun.”

  “Then don’t get into a row,” Mary explained simply, tossing a look to Marlene who just smirked in response.

  “I’m sorry, have you had your memory modified lately? It’s Potter and I.”

 Mary shrugged, “Give it a rest for one night, will you? It’ll just take a moment to speak with him, then we’ll let you rant about him for the rest of the night.”

 Lily once again turned around in her chair to peer toward the boys. She was certain the drink in James’ hand contained more than just butterbeer, but she put the thought out of her mind, knowing it would only lead to the imminent row she was inclined to avoid, no matter what she told her friends.

  “All right, then. I’ll be back.”

  If she had turned to them, she would have noticed the mild anticipation unmasked on their faces, but as it were she just took the few steps across the common room blissfully unaware. She stopped short a few feet away from the group of students who were laughing almost loud enough to drown out the song playing behind them. James’ back was turned to her, as he was explaining something in great detail to Sirius and Stebbins. Quidditch, no doubt. When she took a small step closer, Sirius looked up, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. A quick nod of his head toward her drew James’ attention, and he promptly whipped around to see her.

 “Lily Evans!” he greeted cheerfully, taking another long drink from his glass before forcing it into Sirius’ hand. Lily noticed he was apparently fond of doing that. He rose quickly to close the distance between them. “You’re here, are you?”

  “So it would seem,” she replied, as kindly as she could. “Happy birthday, Potter.”

  “Well thank you, Evans. Fancy a dance?”

  Lily wrinkled her nose. “With you?”

  James looked at her strangely, his head bending slightly as his grin faded. “Yeah, of course with me. I am the birthday bloke after all.”

  “I don’t know, Potter. I just came over to wish you a happy birthday—“

  “Just one dance,” James implored, shrugging as if it meant little to him, and she was beginning to think he was a little tipsy from the way his voice was. Softer, less arrogant as he asked her for a dance.

  She sighed, “All right, one dance.” His smile was victorious, and she almost smiled in return at the sheer beauty of it. “But one false move and I’ll hex your fingers together.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” James lied, a laugh escaping his lips as he followed her to the emptiest part of the common room. The sofas and tables had been pushed aside to allow room for dancing.

  Just as Lily turned to face him, the song turned slow. She barely contained her groan. _Of bloody course_. But when she looked up to see him, his lips were not curved in the grin she was so accustomed to seeing, the one that dripped with arrogance. Instead, he smiled at her, genuinely, and she found herself returning a small one of her own.

  His hand shot to his hair nervously as he reached his other out to her, unsure of where to place them. With a hesitance of her own, she locked her out-stretched hand with his, and allowed him to pull her closer to him. She eyed him warily as he slowly put his hands on either side of her waist. His touch was gentle even on the thin fabric of her school shirt. Slowly, she raised her hands to his shoulders.

  He smelled of grass, and cinnamon, and firewhiskey, and boy. Under her hands, his shoulders felt sturdy and broad and _Merlin_. She tried to not react to the feel of him and the smell of him, as he smoothly led her in a small circle. His eyes were slightly red, presumably from the firewhiskey, but they never left her face. She grew hot under his stare, and cleared her throat.

  “So have you had a good birthday?”

 “Best yet,” he told her sincerely. Something in her stomach pulled at the words, as if knowing that his happiness was correlated to their position at this moment, but she ignored it. She was being silly. James Potter didn’t have genuine feelings for her, of that she was fairly certain.

 “What did you get?”

 He pulled his hand from her waist, holding his wrist closer to her eye level. She could see a sparkling golden watch adorned on his wrist. “Mum and Dad got me this. Coming of age present that’s standard among wizards,” he explained kindly. Not in the way some purebloods explained things to _Mudbloods_. No, there was not an ounce of superiority in his voice.

  She gave a quick nod of understand. “It’s a very nice watch. Take it off when you’re playing Quidditch, won’t you?”

  “Yes, mum,” he teased, his hand going back to her waist again.

  “Get anything else good?” she said, attempting to keep her mind far away from his hands on her waist and hers on his shoulders. “Not a bad birthday overall?”

 James shrugged, looking away from her eyes finally, as if worried his own might reveal something. “A good time with mates and a dance with a beautiful bird. Not a bad way to turn seventeen.”

  His eyes turned back to her now, as she worked to keep the flush off of her face. Was this the longest song ever written or what? As if invoked by her thoughts, the song slowly ended and saved her from responding to him. Their hands dropped in unison and Lily took a small step back from him.

  “Thanks for the dance, Lily,” he told her, his hand ruffling his hair nervously. “Thanks for—just…thanks.”

  Lily nodded, the tension between them tangible, prompting her, “That’s it then? Not going to ask me out? You know, it’s your birthday. Some blokes would use that to their advantage,” she teased, her lips curving upward, hoping to convey the lightness of her tone.

  He looked at her seriously, his hand falling down to his side. “No, I’m not going to ask you out. Don’t need to, after that dance. I mean—never mind, sorry. Think I’m rambling a bit. Enjoy the rest of the party, Evans.”

  He gave her one last genuine smile before immediately catching Sirius’ eye and walking back to his friends. Three minutes later, Lily finally felt her limbs carry her back to her seat.

 

_Day 28_

  “Some way to spend a Saturday night,” Mary grumbled, rolling onto her stomach, nearly upending the inkwell placed thoughtlessly on the corner of her bed.

 From their own beds, Marlene and Lily muttered their agreement. But they had no other choice. With an impending Transfigurations exam, they had to put hours into studying, even weekend hours. And unfortunately, the common room was uninhabitable due to rowdy underclassmen, and the library was closed because Madam Pince had fallen ill. That left them with only their dorm to use and it was an uncomfortable place to be. Lily found it particularly difficult to concentrate when her tantalizingly soft pillow rested behind her. It was such a distraction, in fact, that fifteen minutes after Mary’s comment, Lily extracted her things from her bed, and slid onto the floor with them. Not long after, it became the most perfectly uncomfortable spot for all three girls to gather and study. They managed a solid hour of studying when Mary finally broke again.

  “I need a break,” she announced, tossing her notes before her as she rubbed her face in exhaustion. Marlene instantly agreed, copying Mary’s note tossing but with more vigor. Lily, who was in the middle of a particularly long strip of notes, tried to get another solid minute of studying in but failed.

 “I’m exhausted,” she complained, looking between her friends. Mary’s disheveled hair and Marlene’s blood-shot eyes told her she wasn’t alone. “I’m going to fail anyway, aren’t I? I’ve always been rubbish at Transfiguration.”

  “You are not rubbish. It’s not your strongest subject but you still average E’s most of the time anyway,” Marlene comforted instantly. “Just because you’re not the top of this class like the others—“

 “And who is? _Potter_ ,” Lily said, her voice growing tired and child-like. Mary and Marlene laughed. “ _Perfect Potter_ with all of his Outstanding scores. I expect he and McGonagall should announce their engagement soon!”

  “Blech, she’s like forty years older than us, Lily!”

 “And besides, James would much rather marry you,” Marlene teased, as she ducked the pillow Lily lobbed at her.

  But before Lily could retort there was a loud tapping noise on their dormitory window that drew the attention of all three girls. It was nearly ten-thirty, and the sky was too overcast for the light of the moon or stars to shine through their window, but Mary still got up to open it anyway, certain it was owl post. What she did not expect was two owls to sore quickly into the room, hauling a large package in between them.

  “Sirius!” Lily called, upon recognizing the larger owl. Mary and Marlene turned to look at her in confusion as the owls landed side-by-side on her bed. Lily rose to untie the large bundle from their feet, and once she had, the second unknown owl immediately tore back out the window and into the night.

  “What’s Sirius got to do with this?” Marlene asked for the second time before Lily heard her.

 “That’s the owl’s name – Potter’s owl. Sirius named him after himself and—well, never mind, it’s not important.”

  “You know James’ owl by sight?”

 But Lily ignored her suggestive question, as she unrolled the scroll of parchment. It bore handwriting that she never wanted to be familiar with, but now was. As she straightened the scroll out, Owl Sirius gave a small hoot and followed the school owl out into the night. She watched him for only a moment before she read:

  _James Potter’s Guide to Studying for Transfiguration:_

_Feeling helpless? Like you can’t remember if you jab or flick your wrist for the animal transfiguration you’re thinking of? (It’s likely a jab movement.) Never fear! You have been sent the answer to your prayers. Just follow these 10 easy steps and you’ll be well on your way to an O!_

_Step 1: Stop beating yourself over the head with your textbook. Seriously, Evans, it’s a big book, it’ll likely leave lasting internal brain damage. Put the book down for a moment._

_Step 2: Stack your notes neatly and then place them to the side. Really, de-cluttering your work area will de-clutter your mind. My mum taught me that one._

_Step 3: Close your eyes and take five deep breaths. Five long inhales and exhales, then open your eyes to proceed. Not three or four. Five._

_Step 4: Open the box, find the names attached to each bag and distribute accordingly._

_Step 5: Sit back and enjoy contents of said bags. Recommended for at least ten minutes when studying becomes overwhelming._

_Step 6: When properly relaxed, procure your textbook again and begin where you left off. Take breaks as needed and continue Step 3 whenever necessary._

_Step 7: Focus on specific animal and human transfigurations and the differences and similarities of the wand movements – a little tabby cat told me it’ll probably be important._

_Step 8: Seek help as needed, particularly from dashingly handsome fellow Gryffindors who have top marks_. ( _Not Sirius Black )_

_Step 9: Get a good night’s sleep before the exam. Really, no less than eight hours, and come down for an early breakfast. It’s important!_

_Step 10: Ace Transfiguration exam, then celebrate by joining James Potter for next Quidditch Match._

 

“That dunderhead,” Lily breathed through laughter, once she had finished the ridiculous list. She looked up toward Mary and Marlene who had barely been able to keep quiet throughout her reading. Setting the parchment down, she opened the box, interested in its contents. She found three bulging brown bags, all of similar size and color, with small tags tied around the top of each bearing one of three names: Lily, Marlene, Mary.

 “He’s sent one for each of us,” Lily told them, handing her friends their appropriately labeled bags. They looked at her in deep confusion as they took the bags from her. “Potter. He’s sent this ridiculous guide for studying Transfiguration and sent along these—“

  But her words died in her throat as she peered into her own bag. It was as if he had sent her an endless supply of Honeyduke’s fudge, her absolute favorite sweet. From Mary and Marlene’s sudden silences, she wagered to guess he had sent them something similar.

  “How in Merlin’s name—?” Marlene breathed, pulling a large Sugar Quill out of her bag in awe. She held it out for Mary and Lily to see. “These are my favorite, and I haven’t had one in _ages_. How could he possibly know that?”

  Mary answered with a sound of pure ecstasy as she popped a Pumpkin Pasty into her mouth. “This is so fresh. He had to have just gotten these today,” Mary mused, digging into her bag for another one as though suddenly starved.

  Lily tried very hard to keep her thoughts calm as her friends went on.

  “He must have snuck down to Hogsmeade,” Marlene answered wisely, as she began eating her own candy. “He and the other boys sneak down there all the time, I bet. They always have butterbeer and loads of Zonko’s stuff.”

  “But how could he have known what to get us? I can’t remember ever telling him, and even if I had, I’d hardly expect him to have listened.”

 Marlene nodded her agreement, unable to speak with her mouth full. Her gaze shifted to Lily, drawing Mary’s eyes with her.

  “What have you got, Lil?”

  Lily’s mouth gaped open like a fish, and she was slow to recover. “Fudge. He got me fudge…”

  Her friends watched her closely as her voice faded away. She avoided their eye contact, picking up the parchment to read again. Her brain tried to focus on the words, the arrogant words that should drive her to anger, instead of the bag of fudge sitting her lap, but it was proving impossible. She shared her friends’ astonishment at his feat: never in her life would she expect James Potter to know this about her. And how. How could he know that her favorite sweet was Honeyduke’s fudge? And how could he have known she was moments away from pelting herself over her head with her Transfiguration textbook, entirely overwhelmed by wand movements and her future imminent failure? He wasn’t supposed to know things about her, wasn’t supposed to surprise her and her friends with random acts of kindness. And sure, his final step was clearly a continuation of his ludicrous idea to badger her for a date but his tone was all wrong. It was a joke, but not cruel or forceful or conniving. Granted it wasn’t genuine, but…

  “Lily?” Marlene’s voice came timidly through the silent dormitory toward her.

  “We better get back to studying,” Lily said, pulling a single piece of fudge out of the bag and popping it into her mouth. It _was_ fresh. Oh Merlin.

 “But, James—“

  “We need to study, Mar,” Lily repeated, a note of finality in her voice that her friends were all too familiar with.

  It was with great effort that Lily drew her focus back to her Transfiguration book, and as she curled back upon her bed with it, beginning to doze off, she hardly noticed sticking the “James Potter Guide” between the pages as a make-shift bookmark before sleep overcame her.

 

_Day 29_

  It was not uncommon to find Lily Evans huddled onto the sill of her dormitory window, her eyes bright and shiny from the reflecting light of the stars above her. Ever since she was a young girl, she took every opportunity she could to stay up late to star gaze. Her father often joined her, both of them fascinated by the way the lights winked at them. He had received much scolding because of it when Lily had been growing up, but he always took it in stride. It was their time together, set aside for just the two of them.

  Despite her early Monday morning classes, Lily couldn’t help but spend her Sundays perched at the window, grateful for the solitude of her dormitory. This Sunday evening was no different. Her friends and dorm-mates were scattered about, as it was still before curfew, but they knew Lily was already lounging at the window, and would be there long after curfew if they let her.

  Her gaze skimmed the sky, watching the stars appear through the growing darkness. The stars casted pale light onto the tree tops of the Forbidden Forest and glimmered on the rippling lake. Half an hour into her solace, she was interrupted by a familiar owl.

  “Sirius,” she whispered softly as the owl landed on the sill. “He’s sent you again, has he?”

  The owl stared at her unblinkingly in response, and she let out a small laugh. He was as loyal as his namesake it seemed. She looked down at the tiny scroll, “ _Come to the Astronomy Tower_ ”. She flipped the parchment over but found that was all he wrote. Owl Sirius remained dutifully by her side for the five minutes she sat, thinking.

  She had always wanted to spend time in the Astronomy Tower late at night. She endured time there with her classmates over the years, but it appealed to her greatly to be able to find her own personal solace there. But then, she imagined, she wouldn’t be alone if she ventured up there now. Clearly Potter was waiting to ambush her somewhere along the lines, if not at the tower itself. Despite this, she smiled as her mind imagined the sight of the wide sky above her. Owl Sirius hooted softly beside her as her mind evaluated.

  “No need asking your opinion on it,” she told the bird. “You reckon I should go up there and see him don’t you?”

  The owl hooted merrily, nibbling the edge of her cloak affectionately.

 “That’s what I thought.”

  Suddenly she found herself standing, as though her body moved without much consideration of her own feelings – her desires seeming to override her disinterest in seeing James Potter.

 “I’ll meet you up there,” she told the owl, running her pointer finger over the soft feathers of his head. Owl Sirius hooted once more and took to the sky. After shutting the window softly, Lily made her way down to the common room.

She didn’t bother pausing to survey the room as she walked through it, knowing that Mary and Marlene were in the library finishing up a Potions assignment they had let go until the last possible moment. Her walk to the Astronomy Tower was uneventful. She passed a few third years who were chasing each other about, but once they shot past her, she didn’t encounter anyone else until she reached the tower itself.

  He was leaning against the wall just before the open-aired landing, his hands casually in his pockets, his body silhouetted in the light of the bright stars. He didn’t greet her as she entered, apparently not hearing her, and, in the quietness of the tower, she allowed herself to watch him. Though his buried hands were unmoving in his pockets, she could see his right arm twisting slightly, a nervous tick. His hair ruffled in the slight breeze as he teetered back and forth on his feet. After a moment, he extracted his left hand from his pocket and it shot to his hair. His shoulders caved in slightly as he pushed himself off the wall, spinning around and finally noticing her.

  “Evans,” he said in surprise, his eyes fumbling over her face.

  She laughed, “Surprised to see me?”

  He gave a slight nod in response, folding his hands back into his pockets. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said honestly. “I—err—I wanted to show you something.”

 He motioned for her to follow him out to the landing, and she took tentative steps behind him. When they reached the middle of the landing he stopped. She peered around him to see a mass of blankets huddled up together, then turned to look at him.

 “I know you like to star gaze so I brought you up some blankets,” he explained quietly, gesturing to the spot on the ground. “I wasn’t sure if you’d ever come up here before, but I didn’t think so.” He slowly backpedaled away from her, his hand still open-palming toward the blankets. “Sirius, err, my owl, that is, should be along. He’ll stay with you in case you need him.”

  Lily, her mouth slightly agape as she heard him speak, suddenly found her voice again. “You’re leaving, then?”

  James nodded in response, as he stood near the edge of the landing. “Send word with him and I can come walk you back to the tower if you stay past curfew. I know a few short cuts that’ll get us past Filch.”

  “Oh, all right,” she said, nodding her understanding. _This is very sweet_ , she thought, but her lips remained in a tight line. “Potter?”

   “Yes, Evans?”

  “Thanks.”

  He smiled genuinely at her, his teeth glinting in the light from the sky. “No problem, Evans.”

   As he withdrew from her sight, her mouth seemed to open of its own accord, “It’d be all right with me if you wanted to hang around for a little while. I’ve brought the fudge you sent me yesterday.”

  James smiled at her, closing the distance between them in a few, long strides. She noticed that he sat a careful distance away from her as she crouched down to bundle the blankets around her. The sky was now completely dark, and the stars shined brightly down on them, causing their features to soften under the light. She had no idea why she invited him to stay, when this was an event she usually part-took in alone, but he looked so happy, sitting there a few feet from her, his body sprawled along the ground as he stared upward, and she found she didn’t regret extending the invitation.

 “Do you come up here often?”

 He continued staring upward as he considered her question. “Not too often, really. It’s not usually unoccupied, and, anyway, I’m lacking the main reason most blokes come up here.”

“Huh?”

 “I don’t have a girl.”

 “Oh,” Lily said naïvely. “Right.”

  She looked around the empty landing, internally wondering what the appeal of the tower was. Romantic, perhaps, for those couples wanting to spend some alone time together, but considering that it wasn’t just star gazing those couples were doing, she thought engaging in their real activities seemed unappealing in such a place.

  Her eyes traveled over to her companion, watching as he crossed his arms behind his head, with his legs also overlapped lazily. Lily vaguely wondered if he had ever _not_ been lacking the reason boys came to the Astronomy Tower. She imagined him lying there, much like he was right now, but with a girl curled up at his side, her head resting peacefully on his chest, or propped up, staring into the green flecks of his eyes, or taking in the scent of cinnamon and grass, or— She shook her head at the image.

  “I should also thank you for this,” she said after a moment, drawing James’ attention back to her face as she pulled the bag of sweets from her pocket. She held them open toward him, but he waved his hand.

  “I got them for you,” he insisted, gently pushing her hand away from him. She ignored his protests and pushed the bag back out to him. She felt her lips twist up at the end as she suggestively jostled the bag in his direction. “All right, fine. Just one. Merlin, Lily, you can’t just look at a bloke like that—“

  Her hand nearly dropped the bag of sweets as James shoved one in his mouth to stop his own rambling, but it appeared he didn’t notice. She recovered, pulling the bag back into her lap and popping a piece into her own mouth. The silence between them was loud. Louder than it ever had been, even louder than the silence that followed the time in fourth year when Lily got so angry at James that she hexed him in front of Professor Flitwick. But the silences were remarkably different.

  “Why did you just say that? What did you mean?”

  “No reason,” James answered quickly propping himself up to sit, “It was nothing.”

 “Don’t lie,” she commanded softly, her stomach knotting uncomfortably at his diversions, half-wanting to know, half-terrified to know.

 “Go with me to the Quidditch match?” he averted, wildly, his arms springing him out of his seated position to stand.

 “What? No,” Lily began, instinctively. But to her growing confusion, that seemed to be the answer he was looking for.

Despite his relief at her answer, his face was stricken, as if his plans for the evening had suddenly gone terribly wrong.

  “All right, I better go then.” He strode to the edge of the landing, then added, “Maybe one day,” before silently leaving. 

  His tone was light and wistful, but there was something wrong about the words. Lily tried to not dwell on them too much. What did he mean by his cryptic comments? Why did he ask her out then practically sprint away from her? Most importantly, why in Merlin’s name did it even matter to her?

  She folded the bag of fudge closed and stowed it away in her cloak once more as she decided that it didn’t matter to her. Not one bit.

 But the words still echoed in her head, like a mantra metered to the beat of her heart.

  _May-be one-day_.

 

_Day 30_

 “Lily, quit sulking,” Mary told her firmly as she entered the dormitory after dinner the following day.

 “I’m not sulking.”

 “You are so.”

  She was sulking. The day had finally arrived, and though she knew it was coming, she wasn’t prepared. She knew it was stupid, but she would never admit it to anyone, even herself. Her first favorite book had finally come undone at the binding – something she had been expecting, seeing as she’d owned it since she was a small child, and had towed it with her back and forth to Hogwarts every year. It had been her grandmother’s copy of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She had vague memories of her grandmother reading it to her as a child, and had been given it upon her grandmother’s death. Pages had been falling out for years but now the binding had completely fallen off and her _Reparo_ spell had proven futile, though she wasn’t sure why.

  She made a mental note to research whether Carroll might have been a wizard.

  “James asked you to come down to the common room,” Marlene said, her voice breaking through Lily’s wonderment.

 Lily sighed, “It’s late,” she said. She was already dressed in her nightgown, curled up within the sheets of her four-poster; it was too early for her to fall asleep, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. “Was he rudely persistent about you getting me down there, then?”

  “No, he just asked once. But he really wants to see you.”

 “So you felt bad,” Lily supplied, a smile playing on her lips.

 “Yeah, I guess I did,” Marlene ceded, a small smile on her lips too.

  Lily sighed again, but it wasn’t like the exasperated sigh from before. Rising from her bed, she fumbled around for her robe and threw it over her night gown as she stood. The robe was light blue and a little frumpy, but that was mostly from non-use. She wasn’t overly fond of wearing a robe, but it was a necessary purchase after fourth year when she wandered down to the common room late at night to grab a book she’d forgotten, and had come face to face with four years’ worth of Gryffindor boys playing an Exploding Snap tournament. Standing there in nothing but her night gown, she was mortified, though she had managed to escape back up the staircase without much notice – for at the moment she arrived, James Potter had lit a loud firework and sufficiently distracted the rest of the room. At the time she assumed he was just being obnoxious or overly-celebratory, but now she considered maybe he had done it _for_ her.

  The book she had come down for was magically returned to her room the next morning by the time she woke up.

 Shaking her head of these thoughts, Lily avoided her friend’s eye contact as she made her way out of their dormitory and down into the common room. Pulling her robe around her tighter, her eyes searched the room but they found him instantly. He was the only one there, and he was silhouetted against the fire, very much like the previous night when she had found him waiting for her at the Astronomy Tower. This time, however, she didn’t allow herself to watch how the light reflected on his glasses.

  “Hello,” she called to him. He swiveled in the chair to face her.

 “Good evening,” he replied, beckoning her to join him with the nod of his head. She walked closer, hesitating at the arm of the sofa next to his before softly sliding onto the cushion. “I heard you’ve had a rather unfortunate event happen today.”

  Her eye-brows creased in confusion at his words. She couldn’t immediately recall anything too terrible happening today, except…

  “My book, you mean?” she asked quietly.

 “Yeah,” he nodded, dipping his hand into the pocket of his robes, withdrawing a small package. He held it out to her. “Here.”

 Timidly, she took it from him, her thumb softly lifting the edge of the stiff packing paper. She slid the book out of the paper and into her hands. She rotated the book around, the colors and words pleasantly familiar. James watched her intently, his breath held as he waited for her to react – a look, a comment, anything. When she didn’t after a few minutes, he seemed unable to contain himself any longer.

  “I know it’s not the same as fixing the one you have, but McKinnon told me it couldn’t be fixed, so I thought this was the next best thing,” James said, quickly. “It’s actually the copy my mum got as a girl… Do you hate it?”

  “N-no,” she breathed out finally, her facing shooting upward to look at him. “It’s just like the one my gran gave me, actually.” His smile drew out her own. “You didn’t have to do this, you know?”

  He nodded, “I know.”

 “Thank you, James.”

His smile grew wider at the word that was uncommon for him to hear. Uncommon, but not unpleasant. She returned it, more willing than usual to smile at him, aware of the shift in the room that resulted from her speaking his first name.

 “You’re welcome, Lily,” he said, his voice more earnest than she had ever heard it.

 “If you did this just for a date…” She couldn’t help from saying, though her voice trailed off, unwilling to say what she was equally unwilling to believe.

  “I didn’t,” James assured her, and she believed it. “But if you happen to change your mind about my offer, I won’t protest.”

  “No,” she said, unthinkingly. His lips twisted downward unpleasantly, but he gave a nod of understanding nonetheless. “Sorry,” she added softly.

 “S’all right,” he mumbled back, rising to his feet. “I’m glad you like it. I’m off to bed, though.”

  “Thanks again,” she told him, hoping her voice conveyed the earnestness she felt. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” he said softly as he rounded his chair. “And by the way, nice robe.”

  She swore she saw his mouth twist into a smirk as he turned away from her, and she held back a laugh.  As he ascended the stairs, she flipped the book around in her hands again before opening it. To her surprise a piece of parchment fell out from the table of contents. She realized it was a letter to James, and had his name on her lips before she realized he was long out of ear shot. Her eyes fell over the parchment, curiously, and though typically not one to snoop, she found herself opening the creased parchment and reading:

  _Dear James,_

_Your father and I are so pleased to hear your term is going well. We have really missed you and Sirius since Christmas. I hope you two aren’t getting into too much trouble – just a little, but nothing that will reflect on your marks, okay? You know how your father feels about you boys not having enough fun._

_I hope this book got to you fast enough. I sent it as soon as I got your letter. I’m confident your friend will love it, but are you certain you want to give it away? It still has all your favorite parts marked from when you were a child, though with the amount of times your father and I read them to you, we about had them memorized by the end. Still, I have no doubt this Lily must be a great friend of yours for you to willingly part with this book._

_Anyway, we are looking forward to Sirius coming back around for the summer. He will, won’t he? We know he’s of age now, but he’s still part of the family, and do tell him that from us._

_Missing you both,_

_Mum_

 Lily reread the letter three times, her eyes lingering far too long over the second paragraph. He had told her it was his mum’s copy, though she hadn’t the faintest idea why he felt the need to lie to her about its real owner.

  Making a mental note to pass the letter along to its rightful owner, she carefully placed it back into the book and headed to her dormitory.

 

_Day 31_

 James awoke early the next morning, his resolve shaking him awake earlier than it usually did, even on an exam day. After his quick shower he found his friends in various states of rousing: Sirius, the furthest along, was buttoning up his school shirt, Remus was sitting slumped over the side of his bed, still apparently half-asleep, and Peter was still lying in bed, though stretching his limbs out and yawning.

  “Morning,” he called to them, as cheerfully as the early hour allowed.

 He received mumbled replies from Remus and Peter, and a rather disheartened “Morn’” back from Sirius.

 “Today’s the day,” he told them seriously. He was long into buttoning his own shirt now, as Sirius fumbled around his bed looking for his other shoe.

 “Don’t know why you’re so excited about a bloody Transfiguration exam,” Sirius said, voice slightly muffled as he ducked under his bed. After a second he stood back up, victorious, “Especially because _I_ am going to get the top mark.”

  “No, you aren’t,” James answered automatically. “But that’s not the point. Today is the day. The 31st of March – the _end_ of March.”

  His friends looked around at each other as if expecting one of others to have an explanation on the significance of the 31st of March. As far as they could tell, there wasn’t much about the day that was important, with the exception of those who hated the month and were looking forward to April.

  “What are you on about?” Sirius asked finally, when it became apparent that none of the three boys knew what James was alluding to.

 “Didn’t I tell you?” James questioned, his brows furrowed, starting to get a sinking feeling in his stomach. He usually told them everything, and wondered how his personal deadline had slipped through the cracks.

  “Tell us _what_?” Remus asked, impatiently. He was sharp and easily irritated this early in the morning, quite a difference from his usual temperament. It was something both Sirius and James liked about him as soon as they discovered that this part of him existed.

 “Oh, well, I’m giving one last shot of it,” James told them, splitting his gaze between the three as he looked for reactions. “With Evans.” They looked wonderingly at him, apparently unable to speak. “I guess I sort of made a deadline, you know? I thought I’d ask every day until the end of March, and if she hadn’t said yes, I’d just drop it.”

 “So this is it, then?” Sirius asked, his voice louder than he anticipated, drawing his friends’ eyes from James to him. “After all that? The poem, the fudge, the bloody book, all the notes and letters. All of that and you’re just going to give up if she says no? Why even bother, when she said no _thirty days ago_?”

 James shrugged, his eyes studying Sirius’ face in confusion, “What am I _supposed_ to do? Thirty days ago Evans doubted whether I had genuine interest in her. D’you really think she doubts it now? She might’ve said no before because she doubted my sincerity, but if she says no now when I know she _knows_ my sincerity then…”

 “Then you’re done with her, just like that?”

  “No, not done with her,” James shook his head vigorously. “Just finished asking her out.”

  After a long moment, eyes still locked, Sirius said, “I don’t believe you.”

  James smiled wryly in return. “That’s the funny thing about the truth, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter what you believe.”

 Sirius just shook his head, continuing his morning routine.

  “How are you going to ask?” Remus asked, now standing to the side of his bed. “What do you have planned if this is the once-and-for-all proposal?”

 Peter and Remus stared intently at James as he considered this, and though Sirius was turned away, his stiffened disposition indicated he too was listening.

 “Honesty,” was all James said, as he turned from their gazes and continued dressing for the day.

  When he had finished, to his slight surprise, Sirius accompanied him down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was a common ritual for them to go to early breakfast on exam days. When they were younger, they sat in the hall among their classmates with an air of superiority and unopened books. It screamed, _We don’t need to study, we know this rubbish. And try as you might, Ravenclaws, you’ll never beat our marks._ When their heads deflated a bit they sat welcoming, instead. Though usually exclusive in nature as a group of four, James and Sirius received classmates who had last minute questions or needed extra practice. They usually had a good laugh while doing it, and not always at the expense of the students they were assisting.

 When they arrived, Lily, Marlene, and Mary were already crowded around the table, books open in front of them as they attempted a last minute cram session.

  “You lot ready or what?” James called as a greeting, sitting a few feet down from them, his face forming into what he hoped to be an encouraging smile.

  “Getting there,” Marlene called back, as she withdrew a large Sugar Quill from her bag. She waved it joyfully in his direction, and his smile widened.

  “Glad to see someone’s read my guide!” James said cheekily in response. He was happy to see Lily biting back her own smile as she watched the exchange.

  He and Sirius busied themselves with breakfast as they sat across from one another. About half-way through their plates, Sirius started rapid-fire quizzing James about incantations and wand movements. Sirius spoke the incantation and James indicated whether the movement was a jab, twist, or flick. After a dozen spells, they began drawing the attention of those around them, including Lily and her friends who watched on, their heads snapping between the boys as if watching a tennis match. They had been going back and forth for around three minutes when Lily realized her mouth was hanging open. Flushed, she turned to look at her friends, but they paid her no mind as the boys continued their exercise. It wasn’t until Remus and Peter joined them that they stopped, seemingly satisfied. James had gotten none of them wrong.

  “Hey James!” Mary called, prompting his head to snap toward her. “You’re not human, you know that? That was unbelievable.”

  “Thanks Macdonald,” he told her graciously, his grin growing arrogant as he turned back to face Remus.

 The girls looked at each other incredulously before turning back to their textbooks but their attempts proved futile, as three Hufflepuffs passed behind them to join the Marauders. Lily’s eyes followed their backs as they addressed James and Sirius in hushed voices. Though she couldn’t hear what they were saying, their sudden shifts to join the table indicated they had asked for a late study session with James and Sirius. She watched as James enthusiastically swiveled in his chair to talk to the Hufflepuffs. He thrived as they threw questions as him, which he answered with apparent ease.

 “Lily,” Marlene said. Lily snapped her gaze away from James, and as she realized how long she had been staring her face grew warm. “Want to head to class?”

 “Let’s get it over with,” Lily agreed, standing. They were silent as they walked past the Marauders, but Lily felt a sudden weight eclipse her wrist. She turned to meet hazel eyes.

  “Hey,” he said so quietly that his voice was almost inaudible over Sirius’ loud explanation. “You ready?”

 She gave him a small smile and a nod, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

 James gave her a reassuring smile as he released her wrist. “You’ll do great. Good luck, Lily.”

 “Thank you, James. I’d wish you luck, but I suppose you could’ve _written_ the exam,” Lily told him, her lips twitching into a smirk that James easily returned, but he said nothing.

 As Lily sat down at her desk in Transfiguration, she twirled her quill around her fingers nervously. There was a familiar quenching in her stomach that normally accompanied exams – most particularly Transfiguration exams. The anticipation building up in her stomach quickly traveled around her body, causing her fingers to drum on the table, and rising a lump in her throat. A few minutes before Professor McGonagall entered the classroom, she turned to find James and his friends sliding into their seats. He threw her a smile that she sickly reciprocated the best she could. When Professor McGonagall did enter already telling the class her curt instructions, the room quieted and the exam began.

  And then finally it was over.

 Lily’s stomach unclenched happily as she progressed on in the test, as confident as she ever had been when facing a Transfiguration exam. So much in fact that she sought James out as they exited the class.

  “Hey!” she called to the four retreating backs. All four heads turned to look at her, but only one of the four stopped walking to allow her to catch up. As they walked on, Remus clasped a hand subtly on James’ shoulder while Sirius brushed his shoulder into James’ other shoulder, both intending to be a show of support equal to that of Peter’s nod. James sent them a tight smile in response as Lily joined him.

  “Hello,” he greeted kindly. “How’d it go, then?”

  “I think it went rather well,” Lily said, her smile brighter than it had been all day. “Y’know, besides the fact that I’m a few pounds heavier due to the fudge.”

 “You’re perfect,” James told her automatically, without really thinking. His face flushed when his brain realized the words his mouth had already said. Her eyes fell to the floor in response, apparently taken aback by the words.

  “Err…well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said, throwing him a small look. Twisting her hand through her hair, she started down the corridor.

  “Lily, wait,” James called, taking two strides ahead to face her again. He took a deep breath, steading himself. “Lily, you know I fancy you, don’t you?”

  Whatever Lily was expecting to hear, it was clearly not this. Her eyes stared everywhere but into his own, as her mouth sagged open. She had doubted the sincerity of his requests for so long, and though Marlene and Mary were insistent in their belief that he did have feelings, it was an entirely different thing to hear it straight from him. James’ eyes traveled over her face, gauging her reaction.

  “I do,” he said again, as she continued to gape at him in silence. “I’ve been trying to show you that over the last few weeks. I know you’ve had your doubts, but you know that now right?”

  Her mouth went dry. Still unable to speak she found herself nodding. No, she wasn’t sure before, but she was beginning to be sure now. And it was bloody terrifying.

 He took another deep breath before reaching a hand out to tenderly grasp hers. “So let me take you on a date. Just one date and then I’ll never ask you for another one.”

 Of its own accord, her head shook. “No,” her mouth said, voice slightly raspy, as she drew her hand from his. “No, that’s not right. Wouldn’t you rather I agree to go out with you because I _want_ to go out with you? Not just to get you off my back about it?”

  Heavy silence fell between them at her words, and she found herself now able to look into his eyes. They stared strongly back, the glint that normally sparkled dulling.

  “You’re right,” he said, nodding solemnly at her. “You’re absolutely right. So I…I’m—I’m done.”

  He walked away, looking wounded. And as she watched, she knew he really was done. Finally, after thirty one days, thirty one different proposals – several infuriating, some sweet, many clever – he was walking away, defeated. Thirty one days ago, she wouldn’t have bat an eyelash at it. It would’ve been expected, and welcome, and entirely what she wanted. She wasn’t sure that it _wasn’t_ what she wanted, but then why couldn’t she tear her eyes away from his retreating back?

  March was over. And he was done. It only bothered her a little, but she knew that was how things were meant to be for them. Whatever ideas he had in his head, of Lily and James, girlfriend and boyfriend – spending afternoons in Hogsmeade, sitting next to each other at dinner, studying in the library together, her adorning his secondary Quidditch jersey at Gryffindor games – just weren’t meant to happen. That future wasn’t foreseeable in Lily’s eyes, regardless of what James himself felt. She felt confident in this.

  But still.

 She watched him as he rounded the corridor, as if glued to the spot, vaguely wondering what day 32 would be like, and then day 33 and onward. She wondered if there would be days filled with more fudge, and Astronomy Tower visits, and old books, and infuriating antics that only really infuriated her a little.

These thoughts stayed with her as she lied down for bed, many hours afterword. And she couldn’t help but wonder why they were there today, when they had been so far from her mind the previous day. Her mind replayed his steady walk down the corridor away from her, but it was quickly joined with other images of him: at dinner, talking quietly with his friends, his actions seemingly forced; in classes, pointedly avoiding looking in her direction; him shooting through the portrait hole, not lingering in the common room, and leading his friends up to their dormitory straight after dinner.

  The images shifted to brighter days: him leaning against the stone-wall of the Transfiguration’s classroom, many days ago, as she graded essays; his infectious energy as he walked with her on her patrols; his encouraging smile earlier that day when he wished her well on their exam. Then his words, the arch of his penmanship filled her memory, the swirl of his handwriting: in the note he sent wishing her luck on their Charms quiz; his anecdote about Owl Sirius’ namesake; his ludicrous instructions for studying, that she knew was still crammed into her Transfiguration’s book somewhere. Then his spoken words, which she didn’t even remember listening to intently enough to actually memorize: _“When I heard you were ill, I checked the Hospital wing but—“_ ; _“I might surprise you one day, Evans”_ ; _“Maybe one day”_. His voice, handwriting, smirk, eyes, and words were all etched into her brain and she hadn’t even realized they were there.

  But still.

 She had made the right decision. That future wasn’t meant to be, and in time when his misplaced feelings faded, he would see that too. Then perhaps they could be friends, and laugh about his past antics, reminiscing about his ludicrous ideas over butterbeers with all their friends around them to enjoy the memories. He wouldn’t be wounded, he would be lively and happy and his annoyingly arrogant self. And she could shove his shoulder playfully without his eyes lingering on hers, or she could sit with him at Quidditch matches without him suggesting there’s _more_. Because more wasn’t right.

  But maybe friends could be right. With time and faded feelings, perhaps they could work as friends.

 As she curled into a ball in her four-poster, she considered the last month. Much had changed. On the 28th of February, she doubted James Potter, with sharp words and thin patience. Now, on the 31st of March, she watched him walk away after a final attempt to show her his feelings, and she didn’t celebrate the sight of it. He had shown her the nicer, genuine side of him and her opinion of him had softened to the point that their relationship had transformed into what could be consider a pseudo-friendship. So perhaps by the end of April…

  She drifted off to sleep at the very thought of April. April was a good month, a lot can and has happened in the month of April over history. But she was sorely mistaken in believing this particular April would lead to the fading of James Potter’s feelings. And if she held on tightly to the notion of _maybe next month_ , she would be sorely mistaken then, too. _If not April, then surely May, or most certainly June, or definitely July_ … In time she would come to find out how very wrong she was about James Potter’s feelings. And more importantly, her own.


	2. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything related belongs first, and foremost, to JK Rowling, and then to her partnerships with Bloomsbury, Scholastics, Warner Bros., etc.

  _April_

When Lily Evans awoke on the first of April, she expected the day to be like any other, and in a way she was not disappointed. As she sleepily ate breakfast in the Great Hall with Marlene and Mary quiet at her side, a loud groan in the Entrance Hall drew everyone’s attention. Lily leaned back on the bench to watch an exasperated Argus Filch striding through the doors and up to the Head’s table. Following lackluster behind him were the four Marauders.

  James and Remus were in a heated discussion as they walked past the girls, so Lily reached out to grab Sirius’ passing wrist. He stopped, looking down at her.

  “What’s going on?”

  “April Fools, of course,” Sirius said jovially, evidently unconcerned that Filch was irate. “We vanished Mrs. Norris’ tail.”

  “You did _what_?” the cat-lover in Lily cried.

  Sirius rolled his eyes, “Don’t fret, Evans, it was a lark. We just casted a partial invisibility charm on the end of her tail, then Pro—James transfigured a bit of parchment to look like we really had cut it off.” He sounded so proud and Lily just sat there, aware of her friend’s eyes on her. “But we’ve already set it right, so I don’t understand what he’s so upset about.”

  Sirius winked before jogging up the rest of the way to the Head’s table to join his friends.

  “Well it appears Potter is back in full fighting form, despite the apparent devastation of yesterday,” Lily told her friends dryly. Mary rolled her eyes at this, and Marlene shrugged before shoving another spoonful of eggs into her mouth.

  Lily had told them very little about the events of the previous day, despite their interest. Although she did casually mention the possibility of her and James becoming friends now that he understood she really was rejecting his feelings instead of just him. Yet as the rest of the day went on, Lily found her eyes traveling to James more than usual, and though she told herself and her friends she was watching out for potential April Fools pranks, none of the girls believed her – herself included.

  But she needn’t have worried. James showed no interest in playing pranks on her, nor did he seem to have much interest in looking at her or talking to her. He didn’t appear cold or angry, just distant – rather like he had been before March. As she realized this, curling up in her bed on Day 32, she felt a knot at the pit of her stomach, and she didn’t know why. Attributing it to the nerves of getting their Transfiguration’s exams back the next day, she willed herself to sleep.

  The days that followed were much the same, though James began to cordially greet Lily whenever he saw her, and even cracked a few jokes with her and her friends. The next week James and Lily were again partnered in Transfiguration for an assignment but they worked diligently side-by-side in silence. And Lily found herself positively _hating_ it, and positively annoyed with herself _for_ hating it. As a result, she spent the rest of the month ignoring the clenching of her stomach whenever James passed by with only a nod or a polite hello. She also ignored her heart when it pattered unevenly when he actually _did_ say things to her.

  On the whole, she tried to ignore James Potter while still being polite, because she held on to the notion that they _could_ be friends, and told herself the swooping feelings in her stomach were attributed to this desire and her silly misperception that a friendship could have developed so quickly. She never once considered that the pulls and knots and clenching of her stomach had little to do with James’ feelings, and more to do with her own. That was, until the day of the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin Quidditch match.

  The grounds were bright and pleasantly warm under the sun, as she, Marlene, and Mary headed out of the castle. Spectators from all houses walked alongside them, the familiar excitement for Quidditch palpable in their joyful conversations. Despite herself, as she climbed into her seat in the Gryffindor stands, her eyes went searching.

  He sat between Remus and Peter, all in t-shirts, enjoying the weather. After a moment she watched him extract a rectangular object from his pocket. Her stare did not go unnoticed.

 “Wonder what that is,” Marlene said beside her, drawing Lily’s eyes to her friend’s then back toward the boys.

 “Sirius is in detention,” Mary answered, unprompted. “That’s a two-way mirror they use to chat. James must be keeping him updated about the match.”

 “They have a two-way mirror?” Marlene asked with interest. Lily watched as James spoke into it, still listening to her friends.

 “Yes. I had detention with Sirius once last year, remember? He sort of showed it to me when James called him on it. I think it’s a secret.”

  Lily couldn’t tear her eyes away from James, especially as his words filled her ears, “ _I have secrets, Evans_.” Yes, he was the type to have secrets. And he was also the type to spend his time at a Quidditch match only half paying attention because his best mate was unable to come.

  She wondered why her mind and eyes lingered, but when she looked back on this day, she may have considered it the _beginning_. The beginning of her changing, of her noticing the things about James Potter that he had undoubtedly noticed about her long before now.

  She found her eyes wandering to where he sat even more often in the days following the match – the match he had wanted to spend with _her –_ particularly in the library. Her eyes seemed drawn to the way his eyebrows stitched together, and the way his jaw set in concentration, as he scribbled away on his school work. It was as if his brain was moving faster than his hand possibly could and he raced to catch up. When she suddenly became aware of her prolonged stare, she tore her eyes from his face only to be drawn back in as Sirius leaned over to say something, and James’ concentration broke instantly. In the blink of an eye, his features transformed from serious to exuberant, and though she was too far to hear it, she found herself wishing she had heard the joke as well.

  Once again Mary and Marlene couldn’t help but notice their friend’s actions, and they asked her about it before bed that particular day. Lily had no answer for them – she couldn’t quite articulate why James drew her attention these days – so she told them she realized James was funny, and found herself much keener to be friends with him now that he wasn’t asking her out anymore.

“Only friends,” she assured them.

 April was the month Lily decided she really did want to be friends with James Potter, though she wasn’t sure why.

  _May_

  May went by in a similar fashion, though Lily found herself and her friends integrated into the Marauders group more often, and it was during this month that she and James actually held real conversations again. Of course they weren’t akin to Astronomy Tower or late-night common room chats. The exchanges often involved coursework, Quidditch, music, novels, and political and current events; and James and Lily were never once alone... But it was still progress.

  She marveled at the dynamic between the four boys, most especially James and Sirius who appeared to share a brain. They understood each other far better than the other boys did, and could often communicate with just a look. And although they were quite the duo, especially when sending quips toward one another, it was nothing compared to how they were when the four boys were together and Sirius and James were on a team against the other two. She always knew James was intelligent, but now found herself taken aback by his wit.

  She also learned that James’ parents were old purebloods, and that he was last in the line of Potters, which meant very little to him. He said Voldemort’s name when speaking about him, and as he and his friends callously discussed the potential Death Eaters at Hogwarts, she noticed he skirted around one particular name after a cautious look at her, and she was grateful for it.

  His passionate words hung in her ears as she went to bed at night. She wasn’t particularly surprised he felt this way – anti-Voldemort and willing to fight for it – she just supposed she hadn’t given it much thought before, perhaps always assuming that James’ interest in Quidditch would override any other career desire. She was delighted to find she was wrong, though it pulled at her stomach even worse than usual. Why that was didn’t become apparent to her until the end of May when their last Hogsmeade trip of sixth year came.

  She hadn’t given the trip much thought, but it seemed her new friendship with the Marauders (especially James) deterred other boys from asking her out - not that she minded. Part of her assumed she would spend the day with Mary and Marlene and at least meet up with the boys at some point; but the reality that this assumption existed only occurred to her after she heard Sirius talking to Peter about James’ _date_. She realized she was disappointed to hear James wouldn’t be hanging out with the rest of the Marauders, because it meant he wouldn’t be hanging out with her.

  “Are we meeting up with James after lunch?” Peter asked Sirius, as if trying to clarify the plans for the following day.

  “Doubt it. He and Clearwater will probably make a whole day of it.”

  Jennifer Clearwater was a seventh year Gryffindor Chaser, and she and James had spent the better part of the last three years working together to lead Gryffindor to the Quidditch Cup. They had won two out of those three years, and they were going for their third out of four years this year, fairly confident in their upcoming defeat of Ravenclaw for the title.

  Lily, who had overheard the conversation from the next table over in the library, pretended to be particularly busy in her bag while the words hit her. She was only drawn back into a sitting position when Sirius turned his attention to her, Mary, and Marlene.

  “Hey! Do you birds have any plans for tomorrow? Want to have lunch with us?”

 “Okay,” Marlene answered for Mary and Lily, who looked at each other and shrugged. “Wonder if they’ll have enough room to sit the seven of us.”

 “Six,” Peter corrected. “James will be out with—“

  But he cut himself off from the look Sirius sent him. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Rosie loves me, she’ll move some tables together for us, for cert.” Sirius gave the girls a cheeky smirk before picking up his quill again.

  Lily avoided Mary and Marlene’s eyes for the next half hour or so while she pretended to read her Charms textbook. And the following day she forced herself to not think about the seventh seat at the table that remained empty, but that proved difficult as James and Clearwater walked into the pub and took a two-person table a few seats down from them.

  May was the month Lily realized she didn’t like Jennifer Clearwater, though she didn’t know why.

 

_June_

  June flew by in a rush of heat and exams. Lily and her fellow sixth years worked seamlessly together during their last minute cram sessions. With help from James and Sirius, she went into the end of year Transfiguration exam with an unclenched stomach for the first time in all her years at Hogwarts.

  This was the month she became Lily, and he became James, although looking back neither would be able to tell when the exact moment happened when they shed their surnames.

  The most thrilling part of the month came early on in the first week, however, when Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup. The girls sat next to the Marauders for the match, holding up signs declaring their obvious allegiance to Gryffindor and their unwavering support of James. Lily, who had always been a fan of the sport, turned absolutely radiant in the stands next to Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Their fervor was contagious and she nearly lost her voice alongside Sirius.

  She ran alongside the boys as they stormed the field after the Gryffindor victory. Once she caught sight of James, her eyes stayed glued to him as he hoisted the Quidditch Cup. She wasn’t sure whether she was breathless from the excitement or from the sight of him. She supposed he always looked like this – determined, happy, _handsome_ – when he was celebrating a huge victory, and perhaps it was something she was willfully ignorant of. But now she found the sight to be breathtaking. And somehow she found herself disappointed when he gave her the same generic celebratory hug he had given Marlene and Mary, before turning to Jennifer Clearwater and pulling her onto his shoulders.

  Two weeks later when Lily was packing up her trunk for the summer holidays, she opened her bedside table and froze.

  “You almost done?” Mary called from the doorway. “We’re heading down to dinner.”

  “Yeah, go,” Lily said, her voice higher pitched than she would have liked. “I’m nearly done, no need to wait.”

  “All right, see you down there.”

  “See you.”

  Lily exhaled in relief as she dug through the drawer. It mostly held broken quills, empty inkwells, and ripped candy wrappers, but also shoved haphazardly to the bottom was a familiar face – the Quidditch photograph James had sent her back in March with his date proposal. She sat down softly on her bed as she pulled the photograph up to examine it.

  Photograph James smiled kindly at her, in a way that was now familiar to her. Her eyes lingered on his face for a longer time than she’d admit before she finally dragged them to reread the words again. “To my future girlfriend” he once said about her. She, Lily Evans, as James Potter’s girlfriend. Shaking her head of these thoughts, she stuck the photograph delicately into her Transfiguration’s book and then back into her trunk. Finally finished packing, she closed the trunk with a snap and headed down to the Great Hall where her friends – all six of them – were waiting for her.

  June was the month Lily felt awkward hugging James Potter goodbye on Platform 9 and ¾, though she wouldn’t admit why.

 

_July_

    The heat of July suffocated Lily, but it was nothing compared to the sinking feeling she got in her stomach when thinking about a certain boy. Luckily distraction came in the form of engagement parties and wedding planning as her sister Petunia prepared for her upcoming nuptials. She determinedly ignored any thoughts beside helping her ungrateful sister and meeting up with Mary and Marlene a few times a week. Another distraction came in the form of her Hogwarts letter, which she received two weeks earlier than usual. The letter explanation from Professor Dumbledore inside indicated she had been made Head Girl.

  Throughout the rest of July, she received the occasional letter from Remus and Peter, and even a few from Sirius, but then one letter from James at the end of the month tore down the don’t-think-about-James barrier she has placed in her mind.

   “Sirius,” she said happily, opening the window to allow the tawny bird entrance. “I haven’t seen you in _ages_.”

  In her excitement she ran downstairs to procure a treat for Owl Sirius then hastily opened the roll of parchment.

  _Lily,_

_Hello. I hope your summer is going well. It’s almost unbearably hot here, not sure how you’re fairing in Cokesworth. I was writing to let you know that I received my Hogwarts letter and Dumbledore’s gone and made me Head Boy. Sirius mentioned you had gotten Head Girl – congratulations, by the way, not surprising, though — and I thought to write you so there weren’t any unpleasant surprises. I know we’re mates and all now but I figured you’d still like to know._

_I suppose I’ll see you soon,_

_James_

  She reread the letter a few times, and, after noticing Sirius remained perched on her desk, she decided he was probably expecting a reply.

  _James,_

_Congratulations! I’m glad to hear you’ve been made Head Boy. I bet Sirius is beside himself with pleasure, and probably quite a few teasing remarks. It should make for an interesting year, but I think we should work well together. It is also unbearably hot here, and my mum and sister have got me busy with wedding planning. My sister’s marrying this horrid bloke Vernon, but anyway I’m sure I’ll find time to tell you all about it later at some point or another._

_Yes I suppose you will,_

_Lily_

   It pained her slightly to sit the letters side-by-side and read them. His tone was casual and unassuming, almost cordial, whereas she wrote kindly as if they were friends. She didn’t allow herself to wonder _if_ they were friends. Of course they were. He just wasn’t going to write an extravagant letter like he had in the past. He wasn’t likely to tease her like he had in March, or write a long letter talking about all the things they discussed during term with their friends. He didn’t owe her a great show of affection; he had offered it once and she didn’t want it. She bitterly reminded herself _this_ is what she wanted. Friendship with James Potter, and now as Head students they could spend the entire year being _friends_.

  July was the month she realized she might not just want to be _friends_ with James Potter, though she wouldn’t admit it.

 

_August_

  August dragged on, warmer and more nuptial-planning-filled than July was. Lily spent much of her free time reading or visiting the cinema with Mary and Marlene. Her correspondence with three of the four Marauders continued, but she found herself keeping a sharp eye while reading in hopes of hearing anything about James, for he had not responded to her letter about his Head Boy-ship.

  For a week the Quidditch photograph of James laid upon her desk, scattered among the letters and books, until her mother found it and asked her impetuously about it. Then it got shoved hastily back into her trunk, and another word was not spoken about it.

  Mary and Marlene indicated that they, too, hadn’t heard much from James this summer and that she shouldn’t take it personally. They smiled knowingly when she told them that she did _not_ take it personally, and that she was just curious. She herself almost believed it after the two month reprieve from the boy, but that all changed when she encountered him in Diagon Alley.

  As she moved through the shelves of Flourish and Blotts, she nearly knocked an old witch over in shock at the sight of him. He looked like he had grown a few inches over the summer, but the untamable mop remained the same. He was casually leaning against an exposed part of the brick wall, where there was no shelf, and even from the distance she could see his brow creased in concentration. Unwilling to disturb him she turned on her heel as if to leave, but hesitated as she realized something. She wanted to see him. _She_ wanted to see _him_. And although part of her might have known that in early July, all of her understood it now.

  “James!” she called to him as she approached.

  He looked up subconsciously at the sound of his name, and found her quickly. Without much thought, a broad smile appeared on his face. “Hey Lily.”

  “Hi,” she said, slightly breathless as she came to his side. He pushed himself off the wall and stood toweringly over her – yes, he had certainly gained at least an inch. “It’s nice to see you.”

  His smile stayed intact as he leaned forward for a quick one-armed hug. “Definitely. Are you doing your school shopping?”

  “Bits and pieces, yeah. I’ve been getting a few things every time I come here now that I can Apparate legally. Gets me out of the house.”

 “So you’re tired of planning the wedding, then? I thought every girl loved arranging all that rubbish.”

  Lily laughed, “Not this girl, apparently. How about you, though? Need to shop? I don’t mean to keep you from it.”

  “Oh, nah. Already have everything for the term.”

  “You’re here alone, are you?”

  “Yes, Sirius wasn’t invited, on account of him being a berk. Every time we’ve come here since I got the letter from Dumbledore, he insists on getting me things to match the badge. Blighter never shuts up about it!”

  Lily’s loud laughter caused James to lose his annoyed tone almost immediately. After a few minutes and a couple of obvious glares from the shop-keep, Lily and James made their way out of the shop, stifling their laughter.

  “He’s going to get worse before he gets better, isn’t he?” Lily asked empathetically as they stood off to the side of the busy street.

  “You have no idea. The first few weeks of term will be intolerable, I expect. But he’ll get bored of it soon enough, I think. Especially if you help me shut him up.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Lily said solemnly. James grinned appreciatively at her, and her stomach swooped in response.

 “All things considered, Lily, I’m glad you don’t seem too put out at my appointment.”

  Lily blanched, “Put out? I’m not put out at all, James. We’re mates now, I’ll happily work alongside you.” And happily do many other things with you as well, her mind added.

  This seemed to relax James immensely. “Good. So you do need help?”

  “Help?” she asked. But as she stood looking up at him, his hazel eyes mesmerizing, she thought, breathlessly, _yes, I certainly need help_.

  “Getting your last few things, that is. Do you want a hand with it?”

  “If you’ve got nothing better to do.”

  “Nope,” he said, before leading her down the road toward the other shops.

  And at one time, she knew, he would have answered “Nothing is better than spending time with you, Evans,” but not now. The James Potter that chased her in March did not stand before her now, and she didn’t think he ever again would.

  August was the month where Lily realized, helplessly, that James Potter really would never ask her out again, though she wouldn’t admit that she wanted him to…yet.

_September_

  September brought the excitement of a new school year, their last school year. Lily pinned her Head Girl badge proudly to her school uniform as soon as she boarded the train. Impeccable as her timing was, James was already waiting in the compartment for her and they began discussing their duties. The entire trip there she fought off butterflies and flushing cheeks, and she found in the days to follow that they scarcely went away when dealing with the Head Boy.

  Throughout the month, James and Lily spent an exorbitant amount of time together managing their Head’s Duties along with their studies, but the hours did little to wane the growing crush she had on James. If anything, her feelings grew stronger every time he smiled that lopsided smile at her, and she let herself wonder if her smile did the same for him. Or if it once had, perhaps, but no longer did.

  She finally found the courage to talk to Marlene and Mary about her growing feeling for James, and her disappointment in how things had turned out.

  “How things have turned out? Lily, you’re not dead,” Marlene told her.

  “But _it_ is.”

  “It’s not,” Mary assured, “James and his feelings haven’t gone anywhere. He’s just been waiting for _you_. Ask him out, he’ll say yes.”

  “But I’m such a fool.”

  “You’re not a fool.”

  “I am.”

  “Lily. Quit sulking about it and do something.”

  Silence.

 “All right.”

 “All right?”

 “Yes. I have an idea.”

  September was the last month Lily Evans would ever live without kissing James Potter, though she wasn’t aware of that yet.

 

  _October_

    Lily sat bundled in her cloak and scarf even in front of the roaring fire in the Head’s office. The cold rushed through her bones, and she found herself shaking although she was uncertain whether it was the cold or the nervousness that was chilling her bones.

  James sat across from her, relaxed as he usually was, scratching away at some schedule or another. Lily stopped paying attention to what exactly they were supposed to be doing as her mind got carried away. Tonight was the night she would finally ask James Potter out, but she had teetered back and forth about the decision several times over the previous hour. What if his feelings had changed, like she previously desired them to?

  Mary and Marlene remained firm in their belief that all was not lost, and they even offered to inquire about it, to Lily’s horror and objection. She herself thought about asking one of the other boys about it, but never found the time or courage to muster up a conversation, and now she sat wondering if she was about to make a fool of herself.

  As she watched him, absently twisting her quill around in her fingers, she felt resolve build up inside her. She _had_ to ask James out – she had to know either way, had to know if his feelings had waned. She had to know if she was in this alone now, after all the months that had gone by since her last March rejection. Her time sulking over the previous two months was enough to drive her crazy, and it was the first time she felt herself empathize with the James Potter of March who often went to extremes to showcase his feelings. If he could do it thirty-one times in a row with no success, then certainly she could handle one attempt that she wasn’t even sure would be unsuccessful.

  Softly clearing her throat and exhaling, she set her face to look casually down at the parchment in front of her. “James?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Did you happen to see when the first Hogsmeade trip of the year was scheduled? Professor McGonagall told me it and I wrote it down somewhere.”

  “No I can’t say I have,” James answered, only bringing his eyes up to look at her momentarily before he went back to work on his parchment.

  “I’m sure it’s around here somewhere,” Lily muttered, her fingers fumbling through the parchment as if she didn’t know what she was looking for. “Ah, here.”

  She extracted the small piece of parchment she had written the date on, and slowly slid it across the table to him. She watched anxiously as he reached out to grab it with his free hand, while his writing continued uninterrupted. She realized she was biting her lips and fidgeting her hands nervously, as his hazel eyes finally lifted to the parchment. The words she had nervously written on the parchment crossed over her mind’s eye as she waited for a response,

  “ _First Hogsmeade weekend: 8 November 1977._

 _Go with me? – LE_ ”

   His eyes snapped up to meet hers, a smile slowly arching his lips.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a… it is… you _know_ what it is, James,” she sputtered embarrassedly.

  “Enlighten me anyway,” he said, the smile on his face bigger than she’d ever seen it. She suddenly felt very stupid for a lot of reasons.

  When he looked unrelenting, she sighed, “I was thinking about spelling it out in your peas at dinner, or during a presentation in Transfiguration, or writing you a poem, or during your first Quidditch match, or charming the sink in the loo, or forcing a few third years to do it for me, or hexing library books, or—“

  “Just say it, Evans,” James commanded, rolling his eyes with his grin still intact.

   Lily laughed, her nervousness dissipating, “Point is, you’ve asked me out in some interesting ways, and this was the best I could come up with to reciprocate. So, will you? Go to Hogsmeade with me, that is.”

   But James didn’t answer. Instead he rose to his feet and walked around the table until he was next to her. He held out his hand to her, “C’mere,” he beckoned softly.

  And for as long as she would live, she would never forget the blazing look in his eyes as he cupped her face in his hands and enveloped her lips in his. She nearly sighed into his mouth as his hands released her face and entangled themselves in her hair. He kissed her with fervor, as if he had been waiting years for this moment.

  Finally, when they broke apart in need for air, slightly panting and flushed pink, Lily asked, “So is that a yes then?”

  James let out a humorless laugh, rolling his eyes once more, as if to say, “Don’t be daft” before capturing her lips once more.

  October was the month that the students of Hogwarts realized something had changed between Lily and James, though they had no way of knowing that the change had actually occurred in the month of March.


End file.
